With these hands
by Lluvia-the-Wolfgirl
Summary: The journey to pull the Needles gets off course when the group is separated- Lucas is captured by the Masked Man and while chasing after them, Duster and Kumatora stumble across a strange abandoned structure in the woods- and discover that Duster's memory isn't completely back after all. Meanwhile, Lucas focuses on helping someone else get their memories back...
1. Prologue

The Dragon was dreaming- deep in a dream, deep in darkness- but then a voice called- no, two voices- calling the Dragon to come up to where they were, back into the sunlight.

The Dragon wanted to go to where they were- dreams replayed vague memories of the time before- back when the Dragon had lived happily in the sunlight, friends with everybody, before the fear, before the Dragon had been pushed down into this dark place- but the Dragon also remembered the fear, and how it had hurt to be forced down here- and the pain and sadness and the uncertainty in the voices calling made the Dragon remember those even more.

The Dragon stirred restlessly before being swallowed by dark dreams again.

OoOo

Flint strode through the forest, ducking branches as he did so.

A part of Flint's mind knew that he wasn't going to find Claus like this, that if he'd had any chance of finding Claus like this he would have found him years ago. He didn't even call out anymore- couldn't keep calling out for a voice that never called back- not when his throat felt like it was ripping itself apart every time he did so- but he couldn't just stop searching either.

Claus was not dead. Flint knew the others thought he was crazy for believing it, but he knew it in a part of himself that was so deep and sure he didn't question it. Couldn't question it. He hadn't talked about it with Lucas, but he knew that his youngest child felt the same way- he must feel the same way.

His sons were all he had left, and he couldn't fail them again.

Something pale- something that might've once been white- glinted through the trees.

Flint stopped in his tracks, mesmerized by the sight. Something inside of him- something he didn't recognize, but he could tell that it came from the same part of him that assured him that Claus wasn't dead- pulled him towards the faintly gleaming structure.

OoOo

Kumatora snarled as the Masked Man countered her PK Thunder with one of his own.

Stupid Pigmask jerk- pulling the Needles without caring about what it was doing to everyone else- without caring that it was making the Magypsies disappear- without caring about what it was doing to the Dragon and would do to the world-

She lashed out with a PK Ground, and he stumbled, caught off guard- was knocked down, but started struggling to his feet again-

OoOo

Something was bugging Boney- he couldn't put his paw on it, but it had started when he'd tried to smell the guy in the helmet who was attacking them- Boney hadn't been able to smell anything but too strong cleaning chemicals and the sweat of the Pigmasks crowding around them. At least, that's when Boney thought the nagging sensation had started- had it started before that?

Boney wasn't sure, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that anyway.

He darted at the boy in the helmet, determined to get him to stop trying to hurt his friends.

OoOo

If Hinawa still had physical lips, she would have bit them.

He couldn't hear her- she'd been calling to him and calling to him, but he couldn't hear her- or was it that he didn't understand her?

He'd been able to hear her in the beginning- not all the time, but most of the time- back then, sometimes she hadn't been able to find words to give him- was only able to scream and weep with sympathy and helplessness.

But now, more than ever, she needed him to listen- they all needed him to listen! But he-

Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She didn't like it- wanted to forget it. But nothing else was working-

Desperate times called for desperate measures- and she was desperate as a mother could be. It would place a great deal of pressure on Lucas- she looked across the field at him- his face was pale, but he was standing tall, keeping the shields over his friends strong, keeping them healthy with his healing PSI.

A small, proud smile quivered on Hinawa's face before she -reluctantly, but not allowing herself to hesitate- leaned over and began whispering something new into her eldest's ear.

OoOo

Duster cast a quick look over his shoulder- scanned Lucas for injuries.

The blond was a little paler than usual- but that was all Duster saw and even that- he turned and grabbed his wall staples, preparing to use them as he did so- the paleness could just be the thief's imagination.

But something wasn't right- it hit Duster just as he flung his wall staples, pinning the Masked Man long enough for Kumatora to dash forward and punch him twice.

Lucas was being too quiet. He was never the loudest of boys, but he didn't hesitate to caution the others and to encourage them- and though he was healing them and keeping their shields strong, he hadn't said a single word ever since they'd reached the temple-

OoOo

Lucas knew Kumatora was shouting something at him, but he couldn't focus on the words.

Part of his brain was focused on his PSI- throwing shields over his friends, reinforcing them as much as he could, then healing them when they got hurt, sometimes healing himself too- but part of him was focused on the one standing in front of them-he was shooting at them and sometimes dashing at them and swinging that sword at them- sometimes he even tried PK Thunder again, but unless he was using it to counter one of Kumatora's PK Thunders, the bolts were always draw to the Franklin Badge, always thrown back at him and hurting him worse- Lucas winced every time that happened.

The helmet on the other's head hide his face, and he darted around so fast- but it didn't make any difference- not to Lucas.

He called out to his healing PSI and watched it heal the most recent marks on his friends' bodies- even felt it banish bruises from his own body- but it refused to jump over to the boy dashing at Lucas- to the one who was finally so close, and yet still so far away-

OoOo

The voice was stronger when the boy was near.

Perhaps that was why it suggested taking him with.

He had tried to ignore it-he always tried to ignore it, sometimes more successfully than others- but the voice had a good point.

If he took the boy with him, the boy wouldn't be able to interfere in the Master's plans anymore. That would be good, right? Maybe-probably - killing the boy would keep him from interfering too, but- the voice wailed at the thought- his ears rung with the wailing- anyway, it wasn't necessary to kill the boy- he wasn't really a threat, right?

The subject of his thoughts strengthened the shield surrounding his opponents. He was just a boy- both the man and the older girl- they must be the ringleaders. They must be the ones telling the boy what to do. The boy hadn't even attacked him once- that was proof, wasn't it?

He tossed another PK Thunder at the boy, mostly to keep him and the others at a distance as he tried to think.

The boy and the others were winning.

That should be impossible. All his equipment was supposed to be first class- as advanced as it could be. And he himself- he was the strong one- the scientists had told him that they had made him out of the strongest parts they had. Because he was the strong one.

_ "*****, you're the strong one and ***** is the sweet one- so you have to protect him-"_

He flinched- the voice was so clear for a moment- he clenched the sword, trying to focus-

These others were winning. These others- these people opposing the master-these people telling the boy what to do- keeping the boy with them-

The lightening reflected back at him.

Struck by a thought as well as the lightening, he let himself fall to the ground.

The soldiers squealed and ran away. Silly men. But that was why there was a commander- why he was there- for the things the men couldn't do.

While the boy and the others stared after them, he activated the wings- they turned to look, but not fast enough.

He was much faster than the boy- than any of them- he grabbed the boy in his arms and took off into the sky.

The others shouted after him, but there was nothing they could do- he flew too fast, too high- he lost them easily.

The boy struggled at first, but froze when he saw how high they were. He stared at the ground rushing past, then turned wide eyes to his captor.

He wasn't terrified.

Somehow, he'd been expecting the boy to be terrified.

The boy was worried- nervous- but he met his eyes without trembling.

The voice whispered something- he thought he heard the word "_stronger_" in a pleased tone.

Something touched him- he didn't know what- he didn't want to know what-

With these hands, he had stopped the boy from pulling the Needles. The boy must not be allowed to escape- so he'd keep the boy with him. That way, the boy wouldn't interfere anymore, wouldn't cause trouble anymore…the Army's mission would continue without any more problems, and the boy would be unable to stop them, because the boy would stay safe at the base. Safe with him.

OoOoOoOo

Okay, I know there are at least two fics out there already with the same basic premise, but I do feel pretty confident that this fic is sufficiently different from both of them. For starters, Duster and Kumatora do have a fairly big part of the plot to themselves. Despite the fact that Flint, Hinawa, Boney and the Dragon all got POVs in this chapter, they're not main characters to the same degree as the others, even though they are important. In some cases (like the Dragon), they become a bigger part of the plot later on.

This story is going to be rather huge(by my standards at least), with 40 chapters in Book One and I don't even know about Book Two. There may or may not end up being a third book as well. (bangs head against wall). For the most part, this book is already written and just needs to be revised... I just wish I could revise faster.

For the most part, the story is going to have one POV per chapter, with that POV belonging to either Claus, Lucas, Duster, or Kumatora.

Please tell me what you think- if you enjoyed it, if you didn't, if you think it's too similar(in which case I ask you to please wait and read a few more chapters before making up your mind about that, but please tell me what you think right now anyway). I always want to know what you guys are thinking, but when it's something like this, my self critical side is so loud and unbalanced that I can't take it seriously.


	2. Chapter 1

Lucas woke up with a headache-and he didn't know where he was.

That was happening a lot lately, the calm part of his brain commented as he squeezed his eyes shut- the lights overhead were way too bright- and tried to remember where he was. He wasn't in his bed- actually, he wasn't sure he was in a bed at all. There were no covers over him, and it didn't feel like a bed- more like a table that had a little bit of padding.

It'd been one thing after another- Bronson and Jackie had seen someone who looked like Duster at a place called Club Titboo, and Mr. Wess had asked Lucas to go see if it really was him. It was, and Kumatora had been there too. But Duster had lost his memory and didn't know who he was or how to get home- and when he'd lost his memory, he'd hidden something important called the the Egg of Light. No one seemed to know much about it, not even Mr. Wess, other than the fact it was important.

Because it was important, they'd set off to go get it-but while looking for it, they'd needed to enter a Pigmask base- but the Pigmasks had mistaken Lucas for someone else.

Lucas felt his heart twist at the memory and started to push himself up.

The light above him was artificial- he could see that now. It was harsh and unfriendly, but now that that his eyes had adjusted, he saw pale white walls around him-

Where was he anyway? Inside the Pigmask base still? No- after the Pigmasks mistaking him for "the Commander" and making him change into a pair of "the Commander's" clothes (which had fit perfectly- Lucas's fist clenched convulsively at the memory), he and the others had left to find the Egg- and after some fighting and a few more misadventures, they had found it and Duster had gotten his memory back- but right after that happened, more Pigmasks had come and they'd thought he was "the Commander" too, and they'd dragged him and Kumatora and Duster and Boney to Thunder Tower. Thunder Tower was what they'd been using to make lightening strike everybody's houses. Lucas didn't understand why- why did the Pigmasks want everybody to have Happy Boxes? What was the point of making everyone have silly boxes that glowed?

And then Fassad, the jerk who had brought the Happy Boxes to Tazmily in the first place, had come- and he'd kept chasing them all over Thunder Tower. And then, when they'd reached the top, he'd set off a bunch of bombs and blown the tower up.

There had been a flying ship nearby- Fassad had been planning to escape on it, but he'd slipped and fallen on one of his own banana peels. Duster had used Rope Snake to grab onto the flying ship's ladder- the person controlling it had begun shaking the ship about, trying to shake them off-

And then someone had come out. With the shaking and the yelling, it had been hard to get a good look- the helmet hadn't helped- but in spite of all that…in spite of everything...

Lucas breathed out slowly and turned around.

He was standing there- the other, the one who- Lucas's throat closed in on itself at the sight of his one visible eye focused unmovingly on Lucas.

Lucas stared right back, frozen except for both hands gripping the edge of the table-bed.

He'd been captured.

He remembered now…becoming separated from the others, seeing his mom's ghost in the field of sunflowers, the Needles, learning about the Dragon, being reunited with the others, and seeing the other boy again and again, only for him to always, always leave Lucas behind again-

Lucas had been with Duster and Kumatora and Boney- they'd been at the temple where Ionia's Needle was- the other and the Pigmasks had gotten there first, but they hadn't been able to get past the vines- Lucas and his friends had been able to beat the Pigmasks pretty easily- and then they'd fought the other…he'd been strong. Still, Lucas had thought they were winning- and then he'd collapsed and the Pigmasks had run away, he and the others had turned to watch to make sure they were really gone-

And then he had grabbed him. Taken him here- knocked him out almost right after they had gotten here.

Why was the other still wearing that helmet? Was it because of Lucas? They'd been fighting before- but he had been the one to attack them- Lucas hadn't wanted to fight him- hadn't been able to attack him once- he didn't know if the other understood that or even if he'd noticed that at all-

Lucas needed to ask him that- to ask him so many things- but the words scratching at his throat refused to come out-

The door opened.

"Ah, you're awake."

Lucas turned to see a man in a lab coat approaching-the creepy grin on his face and the way his eyes gleamed under his glasses made Lucas's skin crawl- he tried not to shudder. He wasn't sure, but he thought the other boy's- Kumatora had called him "the Masked Man", refusing to call him the same thing as the Pigmasks- his face might have tightened, just a bit more than it had before.

"You slept longer than anticipated." the scientist continued, as if unaware of their feelings-or not caring. "But it really doesn't matter. The installation went as expected- but the Commander refused to let me wake you or test it when you were asleep."

"…huh?" Test what? The bad feeling got worse-

The scientist pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "Try to use one of your PSI abilities…but do not use any of your attacks."

Lucas stared at the scientist, still not understanding, and then turned to look back at the other- even just in his mind, calling him the "Masked Man" felt wrong.

The scientist sighed and mumbled something, but Lucas didn't look away from the other. For one thing, he was probably the one in charge since they called him "The Commander" …for another…

Slowly, he lifted one arm and pointed at Lucas's neck.

Startled, Lucas put one hand on his neck- froze at the feeling of cold metal underneath his fingers.

Lucas yelped, startled- and looked down at himself for the first time since waking up. He couldn't see what was around his neck- it was too close to him, hidden under his chin- Lucas tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge- it went all the way around his neck and refused to let go-

He wasn't even wearing his clothes anymore- Lucas realized as he tugged again- his striped shirt and his shorts were both gone, replaced with a plain grey shirt and pants combo- the cloth was rough, almost feeling unfinished- nothing like their mom's carefully made clothes, or even the painstakingly but still sometimes uneven clothes that Lucas had started making himself-

Lucas tugged once more, before realizing he couldn't get the metal circle off himself- raised his head and stared at the other, silently begging-

"Nice, isn't it?" the scientist gave a happy sigh from behind them. "Shock collars have been around of course, but I've refined this one to the point where it has different settings- not to mention the fact that if this works as anticipated you will be unable to use your PSI abilities. If you would…a shield, a healing … something along those lines."

Lucas switched his gaze from the other to the scientist and then back again, as quickly as he could move his head-

The scientist mumbled something that sounded like "uncooperative subject" and held up a small device- Lucas couldn't see it all that well- and pressed a button.

It felt like being struck by lightening- like having all his nerves set on fire-

Lucas only realized he'd collapsed once he was on the floor.

That was okay though. The floor was nice and cool. He lay there a moment, trying to get his bearings- and realized there was an argument going on above his head.

"It won't kill him. This is the main setting, designed to be completely non-lethal-" the scientist's voice, speaking in a dismissive tone.

"I want him awake."

Lucas began listening more intently. He wanted to hear more of this voice- but there was only the scientist sighing once again- a rustle of movement- and then footsteps, coming closer…stopping, right in front of him.

Lucas slowly peeked open his eyes. Stiff, shiny boots filled his vision.

"Stand up."

Automatically, Lucas scrambled to his feet. Something about the other- and now that Lucas saw him closer up, it was so obvious that he wasn't any older than Lucas- something about the way he stood, the way he moved…it made him seem older than he was…reminded him of his dad. Flint had the same way of just looking at you-

"Are you going to do what I say?"

"I-I don't…what are you going to say?"

He was silent a moment, studying Lucas-and that was like Flint too. Finally, he spoke. "Try to use one of your PSI abilities."

Lucas hesitated. He really didn't want to- but he'd spotted the shocker remote in the hand of the other, so he must have taken it away from the scientist, and Lucas wanted to know if he could use his abilities too. Lucas didn't want to stay in this place, and he'd need his PSI to escape- but this boy…he needed to talk to him-needed to ask him…and he'd probably be more willing to listen to Lucas if Lucas listened to him.

Lucas gave both the other and the scientist one last quick glance before reluctantly stretching out his finger. "PK -shield." he intoned, figuring that was a safe one.

Nothing happened.

Lucas stared in disbelief, and then tried again. "PK shield!"

Still nothing.

Why- why were his powers failing him?

Maybe a different one-

"PK defense up!"

Still nothing. Normally his body rolled, tingled, flowed with the power… right now, it was still, cold. The temperature of the room wasn't exactly warm, but something more than the cold still air chilled Lucas's body-

Lucas shivered- couldn't stop it.

The scientist was rubbing his hands together. "It works just as I predicted- combine those elements together, and PSI abilities are rendered useless." he chuckled. "The King will be quite pleased with this discovery- I must-"

The other cut him off with a gesture. "His Highness has already been informed of the boy's capture. I will report the collar's success in my report tomorrow."

The scientist didn't seem so pleased anymore- but the other turned away from him, ignoring the face he made, and then pointed at Lucas. "When was the last time you ate?"

Lucas had to think about that- his confusion about everything else didn't help. But to judge by his empty stomach, it had been a while…

Apparently, his silence had been answer enough.

"Come." the other turned and left the room abruptly.

Lucas stared after him briefly, then turned to glance at the scientist, then hurried to follow the other boy.

He was waiting for him outside the room. "Too slow. You're mine now-you'll do as I say." The voice was soft- not taunting, not cruel.

Lucas stepped forward- wanting to hear more, confused and wanting to understand.

A flash of metal caught his eye, and he glanced down at the shocker remote in the other's hand.

"Glad to see you understand." he spun on his heel and began walking away again.

"But I don't understand!" Lucas called, jogging after him- they were the same height, so their legs should be the same length, but the other was faster, had more muscles or something- "Why- what are you-" the other- why did Kumatora and Duster call him "the Masked Man" when he was so obviously a masked boy?- turned to face him, and Lucas gestured helplessly, losing all his words.

"…what are you asking?"

"…why did you bring me here? What do you want with me? Do you treat all your enemies-?"

"You're not an enemy. Not anymore." Was it Lucas's imagination, or had a hint of satisfaction crept in his voice? It was true that every time the two of them had met, they'd both been drawn to each other- Lucas had seen it in the way the masked boy stared at him, even at their encounter at Thunder Tower, before Lucas had even heard of the Needles… "You can't interfere anymore- you're not a threat anymore. Now- you're mine. It's late- I'll feed you now. Come."

Not knowing what else to do, not willing to be separated from this person, Lucas followed.

Standing in front of the temple that hid the sixth Needle, Lucas had felt the sun on his face and body and been warm-even a little hot. Here, inside this strange place, it was freezing. Lucas wrapped his arms around himself as they walked past a vent that spat cold air at them.

The walls were grayish white, a pale sort of nothing color. The ceiling and floor were the same. There were no windows anywhere- no hint of the world outside of this place.

Everyone was staring at him. The fact that they were pretending not to made it even worse.

The food wasn't very good either. It was all very greasy, the new type of food that Lucas had heard called 'junk food'. He tried not to think about that name too much. Junk food was okay, but he didn't really like it- he liked the food in Tazmily a lot better, that was all. Except of course Tazmily had junk food too now-

Lucas swallowed the food in his mouth and tried to swallow the lump in his throat with it. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't help though.

Lucas glanced at the masked boy out of the corner of his eye.

He still hadn't heard anyone call him by name- any sort of name. In fact- he'd barely been involved in any sort of conversation at all. He'd just walked in, gotten his food, and then walked to a table.

The most interaction he'd had with anyone had been the way he'd occasionally turned around and looked at Lucas to make sure he was following.

He was almost done eating too. Lucas hurriedly turned away from his study of the other and returned to eating his own food. He'd gotten too distracted by the looking around and the thinking.

The other boy finished eating, and turned and pointedly stared at him as Lucas ate his food as quickly as he possibly could without choking. As Lucas was swallowing the last bite, the other stood up and began walking away.

Startled, Lucas just watched him, until he spun around to stare at him and Lucas realized he expected him to follow him still. He jumped to his feet and rushed after him- and he couldn't help but notice the way the Pigmasks began to chatter once the two of them left the room.

"Slow again." the other said, not looking at him, not slowing down.

"Sorry." Lucas said softly. He wasn't really sure why he was apologizing- it wasn't as if Lucas had really kept him waiting, and besides, he'd captured him!

Lucas wanted to stop and demand answers- but he wasn't sure how to ask the questions and the halls were full of Pigmasks, and there was no way Lucas was going to ask questions in front of them!

Finally, they came to a room. The other opened it and stepped inside.

Slightly hesitantly, Lucas followed, hoping it wasn't another lab or something similar.

It looked like a bedroom…there was a bed, and there was another door that seemed to lead to a bathroom- and a dresser for storing clothes- but other than that, it was empty- glaringly empty.

The walls were painted a dreary grey that made Lucas think of rain clouds that refused to rain, that just hung in the sky, heavy and motionless as tombstones…

"Bathroom's over there." the other said, pointing. "You'll sleep there." he pointed again, and Lucas saw the cot he'd missed in his survey of the room- it had been hidden behind the bed. "I've given orders and some things should arrive for you tomorrow. You'll wear my things tonight."

"What about my things? The clothes I was wearing, the stuff I was carrying?" the Franklin Badge jumped to Lucas's mind first of all- it had been a gift from Flint, and it had been something that had belonged to their dad when he had been a kid after all- quickly followed that vial Ionia had given them for getting into the Temple, and his nice comfy clothes that were his and all the other things he'd been carrying-

At least Duster had been the one carrying the Hummingbird Egg, so that was still safe.

"Those are your clothes." the other said, pointed to what Lucas was wearing. Again, that slight hint of satisfaction in the voice… "All that you have-all that you need- you'll get it from me. Your old things have been destroyed. You won't need them anymore- I'll give you what you need." Doing one of those swift turns of his, he turned to the dresser and pulled out what was probably pajamas- they were stiff and grey, like the imprisoning walls of this place.

He pushed the clothes into the still stunned Lucas's arms and pointed towards the bathroom.

Lucas hesitated-

"Go."

Lucas stopped hesitating- that voice sounded just like his father's whenever he'd done something wrong. Sometimes he'd felt like that was everything he did.

The clothes fit perfectly- like the change of clothes the Pigmasks kept for the other at that one base.

Looking in the mirror, Lucas scowled at himself halfheartedly.

Okay-there was no way he could get out of this place without his powers. He still needed to get answers from the other, but now was as good a time as any to figure out the collar.

He traced the collar, then slowly stuck his fingers on the inside, trying to fit them between his skin and the collar- and it shocked him.

Not nearly as bad as the one the scientist had given him, but bad enough that it stung and made Lucas yelp.

"…are you trying to remove your collar?" The other's voice sounded surprisingly close- almost like he was waiting outside the door.

"No!" Lucas called back, then winced at how guilty he sounded. It was sorta the truth, after all. He hadn't really been trying to remove it, only to find out more about it.

His mom had always called it the "whoops" look- everyone had always known when he'd done something wrong- and sometimes, like now, when he hadn't even really done anything wrong, when he felt guilty even though he really shouldn't feel guilty- when one of Claus's plans went wrong, that was generally what happened. Claus's plans…they backfired on him sometimes. And Lucas had always been with him, his constant partner in crime- exploring, getting lost, and then finding their way home again- they'd always done everything together…until the night everything went wrong, when it all fell apart- the night of the funeral…and Claus had disappeared the next morning.

Lucas suddenly realized two things- one, the door was opening- and two, he was crying.

Not sobbing, thankfully- but there were tears on his cheeks and in his eyes and no matter how he rubbed at them, he wasn't able to get rid of them before the door opened and the other came in.

He froze as he saw Lucas's tears.

Lucas flushed as he got his cheeks clear of tears, only for two more to escape from his eyes. "You know, there's this thing called privacy." He'd been spending too much time with Kumatora, he reflected absentmindedly as he faced the other- he was embarrassed and he was a little mad at the other for walking in on him, but he wasn't ashamed- he wasn't ashamed of the fact that he loved his family and he missed them-

Finally, the other found his voice again. "…you're crying." it was said in an odd tone- Lucas couldn't quite figure out what it was that this masked boy was feeling- he thought he heard confusion- maybe the other didn't know how he was feeling either.

"Yeah, I am." Lucas said softly.

The other continued to stare at him, like he was some sort of strange never before seen chimera.

Lucas just stared back at him, wondering what was going through his head, trying to figure it out-

"Why?"

"Because I miss my friends and I don't know what's going on, because I miss my family-"

The other was silent still- but he dropped his head- almost as if he was trying to think.

Lucas took the opportunity to study him. The other had to be a boy- he was the same height as Lucas, who was still barely half his father's height, and what little he could see of the face(why was he still wearing his helmet? Why wouldn't he take it off?) seemed to suggest he was Lucas's own age- but the way he moved and the way he looked at people…that made him seem older.

Lucas felt something tugging painfully at his heart- he always felt this way with this person, every since they'd met in the skies above Thunder Tower…

The other took a step back- he _had _to be feeling it too, he_ had_ to be! -and turned his face so Lucas could see only the masked part. "Family?"

"Yes, my family." Lucas said quietly, taking a step forward, not willing to let him get any further away from him than he already was. "My mom's dead- she's been dead for three years now, but I still love her and I still miss her. She was the smartest and kindest person I know. I don't know where my dad is right now…he spends most of his time searching for my brother."

"…brother?" the something in the other's voice was growing, becoming stronger.

Lucas took another step forward. Hoping he was getting through, hoping he was getting him to understand, he continued talking. "Yes- my brother, my twin brother Claus…he disappeared three years ago, right after our mom died…I believe he's still alive, but everyone keeps telling me to give up on him, that he has to be dead-" Lucas shook his head, then faced the other again, looking him in the eyes as much as he could. "I believe- no, I _know_- that my brother is still alive."

The other didn't move- he barely seemed to breathe.

Lucas reached for him, suddenly needing to make sure that he was still alive, still real- but the other jerked away and spun on his heel, leaving the bathroom and Lucas stared after him, stung and wrung by a sudden feeling of loss and emptiness…

When Lucas entered the room, the other was already in bed, unmoving, with the blanket over his head.

Hesitantly, Lucas moved closer-

"Go to bed." the sudden harsh command made him jump a bit. "Go to sleep."

"…I have questions."

"…I'll answer them tomorrow. Go to sleep."

"Promise?"

"…yes. I promise. Go to sleep. Now."

Lucas was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to sleep- sleep in this strange place with this strange boy-man, with all the questions running in circles in his head, screaming- but he didn't argue.

He walked over to the cot and climbed in. The blankets were awful, scratchy and thin- but there were two of them, and that should keep him warm enough.

Lucas turned to face the other-only to realize that his bed only had one blanket.

"Aren't you cold?"

"No. Go to sleep."

"…goodnight." Lucas whispered.

No response.

Lucas shut his eyes and tried to think.

Surprisingly, once his eyes shut, he remembered walking hand in hand with Claus through a warm field of sunflowers-their mom stood at the end of the row, smiling at them…smiling at them like she was getting ready to welcome them home… he saw it so clearly for a moment that he smelled the sunflowers, smelled his mother's scent as they ran to her-

Lucas shuddered slightly- opened his eyes again and looked at the other. With the blanket over his head, Lucas wasn't quite sure which way he was facing. Still, he reached out- the cot was just close enough that he could reach the bed- felt the edge of the other's hand through the cloth and gripped it tight.

The other tensed, but didn't pull away.

Lucas smiled- kept smiling as the other still didn't pull away, kept smiling until he finally fell asleep.

OoOoOo

(Breathes sigh of relief that you guys like this so far)

In case anyone's wondering about pairings, I don't think there's going to be any real pairings… though the plot bunnies have been bugging me with some minor ship tease moments, so I guess we'll see what happens with that. Romance will definitely not be a huge thing though. Family/friendship, hurt/comfort, mystery and drama are going to be the main things of this.

Also, the rest of the chapters won't be posted anywhere near as quickly.


	3. Chapter 2

"What do you think you're doing?" Duster asked, arms crossed.

Kumatora scowled at him from her perch in the tree. "I'm looking for any sort of sign, any sort of clue that that stupid jerk went this way with Lucas!" her voice had gotten louder with each word.

"Do you see anything?" Duster asked calmly, knowing that he wasn't the one she was really mad at.

Her face flushed, both at his calmness and her failure. "Not yet."

"We'll still find him."

Startled, she met his eyes and then smiled- just slightly, but enough to show that she was reassured. She turned back to scan once more, just to be sure- and then frowned.

"Do you see something?"

"Yeah- I think so!" she dropped from the tree in a shower of leaves and twigs and grinned at him. "This way, come on!"

Before he could respond, she was darting away into the forest. Duster groaned and followed, ignoring his leg. He was grateful for all of his father's thief training- if it hadn't been for that, there was no way he could've caught up to her.

Boney darted around him- normally content to heel, worry for Lucas was affecting him the same way as Kumatora-

They'd been searching the woods for hours, trying to catch up to the Masked Man and Lucas. They'd lost sight of them soon after he'd grabbed Lucas- he'd taken off into the sky with such speed that the two of them were high in the sky and already far away before Duster and Kumatora had a chance to take more than a few steps in pursuit-

Duster mentally cursed himself, following up that cursing with a list of his father's favorite insults. Lucas might be the hero of this journey, but he still was only thirteen, just barely a teenager- Duster was the adult, and it was his job to be the responsible one and look after the other two- and he'd failed.

What were the Pigmasks doing to Lucas right now? Duster devoutly hoped nothing. He might have thrown wrenches into their plans a few times, but he was just a kid. The Pigmasks might be a bad group, but that didn't mean that they were totally evil, right? And only the truly evil would hurt a kid-

They finally caught up with Kumatora, and found her standing still- staring intently up at something…Duster came to a stop and stared up, following her line of sight-

A large wall of dirty white rose up in front of them- curving -almost egg-shaped, if someone cleanly cut the bottom half off an egg. It was huge…

"Look." Kumatora said, unusually quiet, and pointed. "There's a door."

She was right.

Duster stared at it a minute- he realized the creeping feeling inside of him was fear- he didn't know why, but at the sight of that structure, whatever it was- something, something weird and strong rose up in him like a swimmer striking towards the surface-

He realized that Kumatora was calling his name- he started and turned to her.

"You okay?"

"I think so- it's just, when I look at that thing…" he trailed off- he wanted to look back at it, but he was afraid too, afraid that the same thing would happen again, and he'd get sucked into the whirlpool inside of him.

Boney whined.

"What?" Kumatora pressed- and at the worry in her voice and in those green eyes, Duster decided to try to explain to her.

"I felt something- something strong- inside of me. Actually…it felt a little…familiar."

"Like what?"

"Like…like when we finally found the Clayman that had the Hummingbird Egg…when my memories came back." Duster spun around and stared at the strange structure again. The whirlpool rose, but only lapped at his feet, not threatening to overwhelm him the way it had before.

"Do you think you've been here before?"

"I don't know." Duster said quietly, stepping closer, not taking his eyes off it. "I don't recognize it… I don't think it's one of the places my dad used for thief training, or as one of his hidey holes. But…it's important. It must be."

"…let's go in then."

He turned to look at her again, and she gestured, a little helplessly.

"That stupid Masked Man may have taken Lucas inside- he was headed in this direction after all- and if this place is important, we should check it out anyway, right?"

Boney barked in agreement.

"Yeah…you're right. Let's go."

This thing had to have been abandoned for a while, judging by the vines growing on it, but the door swished open for them easily, with an unearthly sound that chilled him- the inside was dark, and smelled of dust. There were no windows, but artificial lights flickered weakly along the tops of the walls- at least, some of them did. Others remained dark and dead, and even the ones that worked flickered like candles in the wind.

But there was enough light for Duster to look down and see the footprints on the ground, clearly outlined in the dust. "Someone's been here recently."

"Alright, we've found where that masked jerk is-"

"No." Duster said shortly, bending down and examining them. Two sets, but it looked like they belonged to the same person- whoever it was, they'd come in, and then they'd left.

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"Look at the size of these prints. Whoever left them is my height or taller, but the Masked Man is closer to Lucas's height than mine." Duster stood up and dusted his hands off. "I don't know who was here, but it wasn't him. I don't think it was one of the Pigmasks either. For one thing, the only Pigmasks we've seen wandering around by themselves were the Fierce Pork Trooper and the one who stayed at Lydia's to take care for the bunnies- they really don't seem to like being alone. For another, the boot prints look different- all of the Pigmasks' boots look the same, although there are some size differences. These though… these might actually be handmade, the way the villagers used to…" Duster trailed off and frowned at the prints.

"Duster?"

Before Duster had a chance to respond, Boney trotted up beside him and sniffed at the prints, before barking in surprise.

"(Flint was here!)."

"Are you sure Boney?" Duster asked, and Boney turned and gave him a look.

"(Of course I'm sure! The nose knows! Flint was here!)"

"Who's Flint?" Kumatora asked.

"Lucas's dad."

"What was Lucas's dad doing in a place like this?" Kumatora gestured to the walls surrounding them- "With all this technology, it must be one of the Pigmask labs, right? I mean, those automatic doors, the lack of windows and artificial lights in here- what else could it be? I mean, it looks like they've forgotten about it, but still-"

_It's not a Pigmask base. D_uster wanted to say, I_t's the furthest thing from a Pigmask base._ But he didn't know why he wanted to say that, and Boney interrupted before he could begin to start sorting through the strange impulse.

"...(he must have been looking for Claus.)" the Lab whined softly.

"Looking for Claus?" Duster repeated, a sick feeling creeping around his insides. When he'd gotten his memory back and mentally reviewed the most recent events, he had noticed that Claus wasn't there with them when Lucas and Boney arrived at the Club, and he knew that Claus would never have stayed behind- he'd also noticed that Lucas didn't talk about him.

He'd assumed that Claus had been killed by the same creature that had killed their mother, and that Lucas just didn't want to talk about something that undoubtedly hurt him deeply. Duster had planned to wait and find a good moment, and talk to him about it then- he knew some of the villagers gave Lucas grief about being a "crybaby", and sometimes Lucas was a little too sensitive, but there was nothing wrong about caring for people and missing the ones you loved when they died- and from everything Duster had seen, Lucas had grown up quite a bit in the last three years- channeled his sensitivity to make him stronger, not weaker.

Duster had planned to talk to Lucas alone, and ask about what had happened then- but with everything going on and the fate of the world at stake, he hadn't had a chance- but Flint wouldn't spend time looking for a dead person, would he?

"...that's Lucas's brother, right?" Kumatora asked- she and Duster traded looks as he nodded slowly. Duster suspected they were both remembering Tanetane Island. All three of them had seen things- things that tried to mess with their heads- but Lucas had been the most affected. Maybe the fact that he was the youngest had something to do with it-

Kumatora sighed softly and turned away slightly. "...I remember when I first met Lucas, his brother was missing and Lucas was worried about him." she folded her arms and snorted softly. "He showed up out of nowhere with a couple of Dragos, saved our lives, and then the old geezer told him what was going and then ordered him to stay in Tazmily. Told him that he was certain that Claus would come back sooner or later." she chuckled bitterly and folded her arms tighter. "He told Lucas to work with his dad and the others to "work together to protect our village". Geezer didn't seem to realize that some people love their blindfolds, and there's only so much one person can do by themselves." Kumatora sighed, then turned to him and gave a small smile. "Well, at least one part of his plan worked."

"Which part was that?"

"The one where I found you, of course! It was more complicated than I expected, but worth it in the end." she smiled, but then it faded, and she sighed again. "I wish he'd been right about Lucas's brother too."

Duster remembered Claus- bright and vivid, rushing around like a small fireball- he threw himself into whatever he did, Lucas always at his side- how he was independent, never letting people do things for him, but also how he loved to do things for other people- how he'd constantly driven his mother crazy with "gifts" of flowers he'd picked from her garden and from the flower boxes in the village- even when he'd gotten older and realized why she wasn't very enthusiastic about those gifts, he started bringing her wildflowers he and Lucas had picked instead. "Claus never would've stayed away unless something kept him coming home." Duster said out loud, and Boney barked in agreement.

"I kinda figured that." Kumatora said. "If he was anything at all like Lucas, leaving his family behind to worry about him would be something he could never do..." for a moment, green eyes stared into space before she chuckled- a sound that wasn't quite bitter but was close. "The very first time I met Lucas, something in me knew we were going to be friends- and I couldn't stop myself from looking over my shoulder as we walked away- he'd followed a couple of steps after us- he was still staring after me and Salsa- I could see it on his face, how much he wanted to come with us, but he smiled at me anyway." she shook her head, then raised it and looked Duster in his eyes. "Come on, let's get going. The sooner we catch up to the masked jerk, the sooner we can rescue Lucas and punch that jerk in the face."

She started moving before Duster could respond- walked further down the hallway, Boney quickly following behind her-

Duster took a step forward and stumbled- the whirlpool in his head- he'd forgotten about it until now, but it surged back, looming in front of him before receding- but it was still closer than it had been before.

Duster breathed out, trying to steady himself, before continuing on down the hallway.

There was a poster on the wall- part of him was vaguely surprised that they hadn't seen it, but it was faded- the same color as the wall now.

Duster was aware that he was trembling- he turned his head away from the poster and kept walking- but with every step he took, the whirlpool got closer- thinking about Lucas and all the other problems had kept it away for a while, but now-

Kumatora was saying something, something about searching for clues- but there was a roaring in his ears, like the sea coming in- he found himself walking further in, going so fast he walked past the others. He was aware of Kumatora and Boney following after him, but he just couldn't focus-

_ "Hey kid! What are you doing?"_

His dad's voice. His dad had said that. Had they come here as a part of his thief training after all? But then why didn't he remember this place?

His feet led him down the hallway and then out into a room-

And then there was bright light- sunlight, he vaguely realized, holding up one hand in front of his face and squinting- they weren't back outside, not yet, but other than the one wall behind them and the floor beneath them, the room was made of windows. He stared, realizing that that at some points, vines had grown over the windows- he keep walking forward, not able to make himself stop- pressed one hand against the glass-

"This looks like some kinda place for people to enjoy the view." Kumatora's voice swung back into focus, just for a moment- he didn't know what she saw-

Duster_ suddenly found himself ten years old, standing by the windows, holding a green eyed baby in his arms, staring at the island in front of him and the ocean surrounding it._

_"We're going to be living here from now on- this is home now." he told the baby seriously, as she tried to grab his nose. "Hey, stop that!" he said, giggling just a little bit, "I'm trying to explain to you-"_

_"Hey kid! What are you doing?"_

_Dusty yelped and spun to face the man in the doorway. "Oh, it's you sir- I'm sorry. I just- I just wanted to show the baby our new home."_

_The man snorted and moved closer, standing next to him. "You do realize that babies can barely tell the difference between people, let alone places?" It was spoken softly, without contempt, and his hand landed softly on Dusty's head. _

_"Oh." Dusty said softly, not knowing what else to say- he held the baby a bit tighter, then yelped as she succeeded in grabbing his nose and giggled at him triumphantly. _

_The man chuckled as he reached down and claimed the baby, freeing Dusty's nose in the process._

_Dusty let the man take her- began rubbing his nose-  
_

_"Are you scared?" he froze at the sound of the man's voice- didn't look up. "It'll be okay kid- you'll see. It'll feel like home in no time."_

_"…I guess. I just wish the rest of my family was here too."_

_"I understand kid."_

_"You do?"_

_"Yeah, I've got some friends who didn't make it either." he sighed and turned away. "Come on, back inside. Babies are fragile you know- even though we're not technically outside, evening's coming on and these windows aren't great at keeping in heat- the little princess might catch cold."_

_"Okay sir." Dusty said, turning to follow him-_ and walking right into Kumatora's fist. "Ow."

"Duster! Hey Duster!" she yelled, shaking him, "look at me! I'm right here!"

"…Kumatora?" he still felt like the world was spinning around him, but he could focus on her face now.

"Yeah, it's me!"

"Oh." Duster looked at her, then looked around - eyes flickering around the windowed room, then at the woods outside that surrounded the vine covered and ruined ship. Kumatora was staring at him, one hand on each of his shoulders- Boney was by his side, whining softly. "What was that?"

"You tell me." Kumatora answered, worry loud and clear in her voice.

OoOoO

So, who knows what they've just found? Is it too vague? Blatantly obvious? Somewhere in between? Because this plot point is one of the one reasons why I feel safe in posting this story. I have seen nobody use this idea, and if I'm wrong and someone's already done this, please tell me so that I can go read it.

Also, I don't have a beta so if you catch me making a mistake(spelling error, logic fail, continuity flaw, whatever), please tell me so that I can fix it. I try to catch everything, but sometimes I fail. On the other hand, if you don't see any flaws and just think I'm doing an okay job, please feel free to tell me that too! ^^

And a very big thank you to those that have reviewed already! (bows in thankfulness) I hope you continue to enjoy the story.


	4. Chapter 3

His eyes shot open as he jerked awake- shot up as if he'd been fired from the cannon- quickly scanned the room and found it empty of enemies- but not empty of life.

He flung the blanket aside- quickly crossed over to the other's cot and stood over him- watched him breathe for a moment before slowly reaching out- putting his hand on the other's forehead.

The blond boy sighed deeply- mumbled something that he didn't catch- and smiled. The other appeared to be sleeping peacefully- was smiling, lying still, not restless at all- no injuries or worries that he could detect.

The Commander gave a sigh of his own.

This was the first plan he had come up with on his own. He was still following orders, of course, but this was the first time he'd seen a good way to accomplish his orders so neatly. At least, it had seemed nice and neat when he'd taken the boy- when he'd been bringing him here, and he had sped up and gone even higher, the boy had actually clung to him- still not scared, but worried- cautious-

But then...

_ He'd begun approaching the base, began going lower- among the trees, not over them- suddenly, the other had begun to struggle- at first, he thought the other boy was trying to escape from him- but the other gripped him even tighter with one hand and latched himself onto a strong nearby tree branch with his free hand- they struggled for a moment- the other refused to let go of him, but also refused to let go of the tree- finally, the Commander got into position and shot the branch off the tree- it took a minute for him to stabilize their flight- and for that moment, the other boy had returned to hugging him with both arms again._

_So the Commander had relaxed- and then, as they passed another tree, the other did it again- reached out and latched onto another tree branch while still clinging to him with his other hand. They struggled again, and again he shot the tree branch off, and again the boy returned to clinging to him- but this time the Commander made sure to stay away from the trees and their branches- and this time he thought he knew what the other was trying to do. He wasn't trying to escape, exactly- he was trying to avoid going to the base, but he was also trying to stay with him._

_They had to go to the base, of course. Mountain Base was where the Commander had been stationed, so it would be where he would keep the boy._

_But he had to stop the boy from struggling- the scientists and the soldiers would take it as more than struggling, would take as fighting- would think that it meant that the other boy was an enemy still- and the scientists might use that against them- might claim that since the Commander couldn't control the boy, he couldn't keep him-_

_They were approaching the landing site now- the boy wasn't struggling, but he was tense- so very tense- in his arms- and then he twisted, making him tense too- but he seemed to be just looking around- probably trying to find another way to try to prevent them from reaching the base- but the change in position was just enough for the light to glint off of a badge pinned to the boy's striped shirt- he analyzed it quickly- the boy hadn't been wearing it at their last meeting- when they were on the other island- and at that time, he'd used the lightening and knocked out the boy and the ones with him- the ones who had been controlling him._

_The badge was what kept the lightening from affecting the boy._

_With one quick, sharp gesture, he ripped the badge off of the boy's shirt, tearing it in the process- and then, before the boy could do anything more than give a sharp cry in protest, he hit him with the lightening- knocking him out and making him go limp._

_The Commander quickly stuffed the badge away in one of the uniform pockets and then wrapped his other arm around the boy as well- cradled him carefully as he began to land._

_The voice was- was not wailing exactly- not complaining exactly- but the voice was not happy. A high worried sound-_

_Something in him resonated with the voice- he'd been about to congratulate himself on an excellent tactical move, but couldn't, even though this meant the boy was safe-_

_It was only as his feet hit the floor that he realized that he hadn't really thought this through. The voice would no doubt go into the category of things that he would be sent to the scientists for "a checkup" for if he mentioned it- and the boy needed to be shown that the ones controlling him before would not be able to reach him here, and that he needed to listen to him and behave- and he would have to convince everyone that it was best to let him keep the boy. What would be the best way to do all of that-_

_"Commander?"_

_He looked up to find a woman- one of the assistant scientists- looking from him to the boy he was carrying in his arms._

_"What's going on?" she asked, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear nervously, "Who is that?"_

_"This is the other- the other who was pulling the Needles." he responded, looking away from her- looking at the other, wondering how to care for him- that was when he saw the injuries- just bruises and small cuts- the other's healing PSI had kept him from serious injury- but he still frowned when he saw them- the blond boy was his responsibility now- and looked at the assistant scientist. "Fix him."_

And they had. The boy's wounds were all cured now.

He took his hand off the boy's head- was about to take a step away, when the boy frowned- stirred slightly in his sleep.

The boy was like him- but not like him.

He was having problems pining it down- parts of the boy were obvious, and parts of him weren't.

He and the boy had similar powers. One of their attacks- the strongest one- was exactly the same.

And the boy was strong- he had to be, otherwise he would have died by now, even with those others helping him…the boy was strong, but he kept thinking of him as weak…well, now he was weak. The collar placed the boy entirely under his power.

He watched the boy toss in his sleep- the boy was his now- he'd have to take care of him- protect him, keep him safe…

Like he had earlier- when the scientists had found out what had happened, they'd crowded into the room where the other boy's injuries were being taken care of-

_The medics were giving the boy something as they were fixing his injuries- something in a needle that they injected into him as the Commander watched- they said it would keep him asleep._

_The Commander had watched as long as he could, but then the scientists showed up- so many of them that they couldn't stay in the room. So he had taken them to the hallway outside and listened to them there.  
_

_The scientists had wanted to keep the boy, but he'd said no._

_Even after he'd said that, they had kept insisting that they should be the ones to keep the boy- kept talking about all the things they could do to him (he vaguely realized that his fists were clenching themselves tight as the scientists kept talking) - all the things they could test on him- and then they'd started arguing over who got to do what with him- even the head scientist got annoyed at them- the third time Dr. Reasoner had told his workers to listen and they failed to do so, the Commander had turned the mechanical arm into its cannon mode and shot it into the air- everybody glared at him, but they did become quiet- then the head scientist spoke up again._

_"Thank you, Commander." The head scientist didn't sound thankful. He sounded mad._

_He nodded his head in acknowledgment anyway, then stated his case again. "The boy belongs in my custody because the Army had to deal with him, and I am the one who captured him. He is no true threat- he never attacked me- even during the battle at the Temple, he only healed himself and the others who were controlling him- sometimes he would use shields and a few other assist PSI, but that was all. He is also the other one who was pulling the Needles-"_

_"How do do you know that?" challenged a voice._

_He couldn't see which of the scientists said that, so he gave the whole room a look. "Because he is."_

_"At this precise minute, it doesn't matter if he is or is not." the head scientist said, glaring at all of them. "All of you get back to work- except for you, Betz." he waited for all of them to stop yelling, then continued. "The Commander and I are going to call King P- in the meantime, Betz has an experiment he's been wanting to try for some time- an experiment that won't harm the subject even if it doesn't work as anticipated."_

_One of the scientists stepped forward, glasses glinting in the artificial light. "It's a project I've been working on for some time- how exactly does PSI travel through the body? I believe I've come up with a way to block it. No matter who gets to keep the subject, it will be a good idea to make sure he can't use his PSI- we all know how annoying escape attempts can be, don't we?"_

_All of the scientists laughed- the Commander didn't._

_"Not to mention," the scientist went on. "my latest design is a collar that also works the same as a shock collar. You click a button and zap! Instant punishment. Quite handy for training purposes- don't you agree, Commander?"_

_He looked at the scientist for a moment- then nodded slowly. He agreed with anything that kept the boy in his care- kept him safe and away from the scientists. And it would be good to have something to show to the other boy to prove that he- the Commander, the strong one- was the one in charge, and the other boy needed to listen to him and be good- shock collars had remotes, didn't they? He would make sure to take it away from the scientist as soon as possible._

_Luckily, when Master Porky came on and the Commander explained his plan, Master Porky approved of it- at least, he thought he did. The Pig King had laughed when he heard it, and he'd said that the Commander could keep the other- and that was the most important thing._

_The boy was his to keep now._

In the present, the other rocked restlessly, and he moved slightly towards him- he didn't know why-

With something almost like surprise, he realized he was feeling emotions towards the boy- he wasn't supposed to feel emotions. Emotions messed with your head- altered your thinking- emotions were dangerous, keeping you from doing what you needed to do- made you do stupid things…

Awkwardly, he tried to shove them away, but they just bubbled back in under the mental door he tried to shove them behind. He regarded them- he didn't know what to do with them. Unused to feelings, he didn't really know which ones they were, or what to do with them…all he knew was that the boy was- the boy was-

The boy moaned in his sleep, as if something had hurt him, and the Commander found his hand reaching towards him. Surprised, he just watched, making no attempt to stop it- his hand gently stroked the boy's head- it seemed to comfort him- sooth him.

The boy murmured. He sounded sad, but no longer in pain.

The Commander just continued stroking the boy's head- he found himself humming too- why?

It soothed the boy- comforted him. It helped him sleep.

Sleep was good- sleep was important. Soldiers needed sleep to be able to perform their duties with maximum efficiency. The boy wasn't a soldier, but the body still worked the same, right?

The Commander should be sleeping himself- but he wasn't. He had been- but he'd woken up. Something had woken him up… it happened sometimes… he'd wake up, and he wouldn't know why… sometimes he'd find his cheeks wet… he didn't know why. Maybe if he asked, somebody would be able to tell him why…but he never asked.

He didn't know why he didn't ask-but it didn't matter, right? He still did his job, and as long as he did his job, everything was good, right?

The boy shifted, moving himself closer- closer to him.

The Commander heard a soft sigh- realized it came from him.

_The head scientist had been unhappy- tried to argue- but Master Porky wouldn't let him. After telling them to report in tomorrow with whatever happened next, he dismissed them._

_When he and the head scientist returned to the room where the boy was being kept until he woke up, he discovered that the other scientist had completed the installation of the collar around the boy's neck._

_The boy's wounds were all attended to- his clothes had also been taken away- they had put the infirmary patient outfit on him._

_He noticed the boy's clothes folded and sitting on a nearby cart- there was a bin next to it._

_The two scientists started talking- arguing- over the Pig King's decision._

_He ignored them- walked over to the cart and looked in the bin. As he'd suspected, the boy's equipment was inside- some food, one of the zodiac bracelets- a vial filled with something that looked like water...except the color wasn't quite right...maybe because it was in the vial? Maybe the vial was made out of something that distorted the color of the water to his eyes- but it didn't matter. He didn't care about any of these things- the boy wouldn't need them anymore. He picked up the clothes, put them in the box with the other things and picked up the box and walked over to the scientists, who had finally stopped arguing. "Do whatever you want with these."_

_The one that was not the head scientist- Dr. Betz- snorted. "What would we want with those-"_

_The Commander held up the vial, and the scientists looked at it._

_"It's just water." Dr. Betz said- his tone said he wasn't quite convinced of that, but it wasn't any happier either._

_"You wouldn't be able to do more than wet your mouth with that amount of water- there's no reason for carrying that little container with just water in it." Head Scientist Dr. Reasoner said, and took the box and shoved it into Dr. Betz's arms. "Here, run some tests on it."_

_"I'm not done yet here! I still have to test the collar-"_

_"The boy is sleeping." the Commander pointed out. It was an obvious statement, but since the scientist wasn't taking that into account..._

_"That will change with the touch of a button-" the scientist said, holding up a remote, finger inching towards the red button- the Commander snatched it away. "Hey!"_

_"The boy is mine."_

_"Maybe so, but the collar is my project! I have the right to test it."_

_The Commander wavered slightly at that- he wasn't supposed to interfere in the scientists' projects- that was on the list of things he would get in trouble for- but then things went click in his mind. "You can test it- when the boy wakes up, then you can test it. After you test it-" he held up the remote- reluctantly let the scientist snatch it back. "After you test it, the remote becomes mine."_

_They had argued then- they had gone back and forth for a while- in the end, Head Scientist Dr. Reasoner intervened. First, he asked the Commander what he was trying to do, and he answered "Trust". _

_The scientists didn't understand, even though it made sense. He wanted the boy to trust him, and if you wanted someone to trust you, you treated them kindly. If they misbehaved, then you punished them, but you never ever hurt them for no reason._

_The head scientist had stared at him silently for a few more minutes- he didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue either. The scientists had left shortly afterwards- the head scientist to return to his duties and the other scientist to drop the box off at his lab and have one of his workers start going through it and start throwing things away, before coming back here._

_He knew the scientists were angry that they didn't get to keep the boy- that they were glaring at his back as they left the room- but he didn't care._

The boy was his- would stay safe with him.

In the present, he suddenly realized that the badge that reflected lightening was still in his pocket. No doubt the scientists would be interested in that- but... instinctively, his hand shot into the pocket- wrapped itself around the badge tightly.

...perhaps he could use it as an example- to gain the boy's trust. If the boy continued to behave, he would tell him that he still had the badge- and tell him he would return it to him if he was good in the future as well.

When the boy had woken up, he'd been good, just like the Commander had known he would be-

_Things had gone well. The collar had worked- it both blocked the boy's PSI and when the button was pressed, it zapped the boy and hurt him-_

_When the boy had fallen to the ground, he had ripped the remote out of the scientist's hand- the scientist had glared at him briefly before smiling- a not very nice smile._

_The Commander had ignored it and gone over to the boy._

_When he'd spoken to the boy, he'd gotten up- didn't even seem to be bruised. After confirming that the boy's PSI was indeed blocked, he'd taken the boy away, taken him to the mess hall- fed him there, and then taken him to the room._

_He'd given the boy his nighttime clothes, and the boy had gone into the bathroom to change. The Commander had begun to take off the boots- and then, just after he'd finished that and taken them to their place by the side of the door, he'd heard the sound of the collar activating, and the boy yelped._

_When questioned, the boy said he wasn't trying to remove the collar- but he'd also sounded guilty-_

_The boy had been good- he'd been quiet and stuck close to the Commander- but the Commander had opened the door anyway- he couldn't take any chances with the boy's safety-_

_The boy had been crying- but he'd also faced the Commander straight on- no shame, no fear-_

The Commander was brought back to the present by the boy mumbling something in his sleep- something he couldn't make out- but there was a high, lonely sound to his voice- as if he was calling out to someone-

_Finding the boy like that- the Commander had felt almost like he'd been injured and something was digging into the wound- ____and then the boy had started talking about his family, and the feeling had gotten even worse- _as if the girl who had been controlling the boy before had hit him on the head repeatedly- hit him without the helmet protecting him.

_He'd retreated from the bathroom- gone into his bed. He needed to stop this feeling, needed to regain perspective so he could fulfill his duties-_

_The boy had followed him out- had talked about having questions- the Commander had gotten him to be quiet and go to sleep- but he'd had to promise to answer the boy's questions later._

_And then the boy had reached out- had taken a hold of the Commander's hand and held onto it as he went to sleep- had continued holding onto it even in his sleep. The Commander hadn't moved away- it would make it easier to keep track of the boy anyway, right?_

But the boy wanted to ask questions- well, questions weren't necessarily bad. A good soldier would ask questions to make sure they fulfilled their duty correctly- but the statements the boy made... the effect they had on him... would the questions the boy asked be even worse?

But he couldn't get angry at him- he wasn't supposed to get angry anyway, and just as importantly, the boy was obviously sincere- wasn't trying to hurt him-

_"Yes- my brother, my twin brother Claus…he disappeared three years ago, right after our mom died…I believe he's still alive, but everyone keeps telling me to give up on him, that he has to be dead-" The boy shook his head, then faced the Commander again, looking him in the eyes as much as he could. "I believe- no, I know- that my brother is still alive."_

The voice was back in his head again. He still couldn't make out the words, but he could tell that the voice was happy because of the tone…the voice was humming the same tune he was…that was strange…strange, but...familiar.

The Commander should be trying to get to sleep- he didn't know why he wasn't. Somehow, the commands wouldn't form in his brain, wouldn't reach his limbs.

**_ "…good boy…"_**

The voice was happy…was that a good thing?

The voice was happy- the boy was happy- the Commander was…

His train of though crashed and abruptly restarted.

The soft sound of the boy's breathing filled the otherwise empty and silent room.

The Commander was tired- and night was for sleeping, right?

He should try to get to sleep- he shifted and the boy mumbled in his sleep and grabbed his wrist.

"Dun' go…" he begged.

Startled, he didn't pull away- just watched as the boy clung to his hand like a swimmer to a lifeline.

The voice seemed pleased by this too. **_"…good boys…proud…"_**

Proud?

He patted the boy's head and watched him relax and listened to the voice hum softly and happily.

_"*****, you're the strong one and ***** is the sweet one- so you have to protect him. He isn't as strong as you, so you have to be careful, okay?"_

_He nodded solemnly, eyes fixed on the figure above him-  
_

_It was dark, and there was some sort of mist, all around- he couldn't see, but there were people around- he was aware of a flash of yellow, and realized that the blonde boy was behind the one in front of him, being gently lifted and carried by a tall figure- _

_But even as he realized that, he focused on the gentle hands on his shoulders and the sweet scent of flowers coming from the figure in front of him-_

This time, the pounding on the door woke him up.

"Commander! Commander! We've received an urgent report from the Chimera Research Facility!"

He jerked awake, confused and disoriented, but only for a moment.

He'd been asleep? He'd actually fallen back asleep after waking up? He was on the boy's bed now- the blankets had been tucked around both of them.

Next to him, the boy yawned as he sat up. He turned to face him- the boy was sleepy and discombobulated, but their eyes met-

"Commander!"

The Commander of the Pigmask Army jumped to his feet. He turned away from the boy and walked to the door but didn't open it. "What?"

"Oh, Commander! Thank goodness you're awake! The Chimera Research Facility sent an urgent report! Apparently, the chimeras escaped- they managed to recapture most of them, but they still haven't been able to round up the Ultimate Chimera!"

…of course the Ultimate Chimera was the one still loose.

"I'll be there shortly."

"Yes sir!"

Even through the door he could hear the sound of the salute.

He sighed and turned to face the boy- and flinched slightly to find him right behind him, staring at him intently.

Sleeping in his helmet and uniform had been uncomfortable, but he was rather glad he had…the boy's gaze…it was piercing. The helmet shielded him somewhat from the boy's stare.

After a moment of silence, the Commander turned away. "What do you want?"

"What do you want?" the boy countered.

The Commander blinked. "I don't want anything."

"Then why am I here?"

"So you're safe. You can't interfere anymore."

"If all you wanted was to make sure I didn't interfere, than why didn't you kill me?"

The Commander looked away again, and the boy moved, keeping it so that they were eye to eye still.

"You could've killed me and my friends easily back on Tanetane Island- but you didn't."

"Get out of my way. I need to get ready for the briefing." the Commander said, pushing past him- the boy surrendered ground, but his hands closed around the Commander's wrist and wouldn't let go.

The Commander turned- looked at the boy's hand, then looked at the boy's bright blue eyes, before dropping his head again. "…do you need something?" he must need something with the way he was looking at him, right? "I'll bring you some clothes today, like I promised yesterday. You'll stay here for now- I'll take you to the mess hall after the briefing is over. Do you need anything else?"

The boy paused a moment- things ran across his face so fast, before he focused. "My friends- what are you going to do with them?"

"…that depends on what they do next. Now-" he pulled away, moved to the dresser, removed another uniform set, and strode into the bathroom before the boy could ask any more questions.

What did the Commander plan? He didn't really have any plans…he had been ordered to pull the Needles, and the troublemakers had been interfering- but now the boy, the only other one who could pull the Needles, was his. And now they couldn't interfere anymore, right?

And the boy wouldn't escape from him- couldn't escape from him.

So that was all taken care of…unless the others- the ones who had been keeping the boy with them before- tried to interfere again-in which case he'd have to stop them- that was all.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. What if they tried to take the boy away? Steal him?

He'd stop them. He wouldn't let anyone take the boy away.

The Commander nodded to the him in the mirror and began changing clothes. When he was finished, he removed the badge from his pocket- studied it for a moment.

There was a dark bolt of lightening in the middle of it- behind that, there was a vague shape he couldn't make out...it looked almost like a map, but not of any place he recognized.

The words "Franklin Badge" ran around the edge of it... so that was what it was called.

The Commander put it into one of the pockets of the pants he was currently wearing, gathered up the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, then left the room.

The boy was sitting on the cot, a thoughtful expression on his face- when the Commander walked back into the room and began heading to the door, the boy jumped to his feet and headed him off before he could reach it.

"What's your name?" the question shot out of the boy's mouth before the Commander could even think of responding. "I'm Lucas- what's your name?"

...name? His name. He- he didn't have a name, right? They told him he didn't have a name-

"I'm-the Commander of the Army."

"That's not a name." The boy said softly. "That's a title."

For a second, their eyes met through the mask- for just a second, the blonde boy's eyes met and held his one uncovered eye- and then the Commander could move again- pushed past him and out the door.

The Commander shut the door behind him- stared at the door for a moment, then remembered to lock it. He couldn't risk something happening to the boy-

Lucas- the boy's name was Lucas.

For a moment, the Commander's hand gripped the Franklin Badge in his pocket- and then he started off down the hallway.

OoOoOo

I am going to be so happy when Claus remembers his name so I don't have to keep typing "the commander" over and over again.

This chapter used to be part of another chapter, until I realized it made a lot more sense here. Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker, but since Real Life is currently trying to kill me, I doubt it.

In case anyone's wondering, that's when the Porky makes his first appearance. Unfortunately, it's not when he dies. Painfully. With extreme amounts of fire so that I can toast marshmallows on him and what the heck I don't even like marshmallows-

I'm not a Porky fan, in case you hadn't guessed yet. One of my favorite things about my other fic "Heart's Desire", is that the twins got to kick his butt twice!


	5. Chapter 4

Lucas dropped into the cot and sighed, staring at the door that separated him from the other boy- hoping he came out of the bathroom soon.

This would be the type of situation his grandpa would call "a fine kettle of fish".

He needed to find a way out of this place, but he couldn't escape without his powers, and besides…he still hadn't seen the masked boy's face.

If all he wanted was to stop Lucas and his friends from interfering, then why hadn't he killed them? Back at Thunder Tower, after they'd fallen from the flying machine, he'd probably assumed they were dead-but before they'd fallen, he'd had the option of using PK Thunder, and knocking them off the ladder, but he hadn't. He hadn't attacked them.

At Snowcap Mountain, the Mecha-gorilla had been left to deal with them, and that had been a difficult battle- but at Tanetane Island, he hadn't even hit them hard enough to knock them out, only hard enough to stun them for a moment…if all he wanted was for them to stop interfering, it would have made more sense for him to kill all of them then and there.

But he hadn't.

How good were the Magyspsies at sensing hearts? The question had occurred to Lucas before, but he hadn't allowed himself to wonder about it much. Was it- was it possible that the masked boy had a heart, and Ionia and Mixolydia had simply not noticed it?

That might explain it- that had to explain it- Lucas hadn't seen them really do much of anything using their powers- Ionia had used PSI powers of some sort to drift on the wind to get somewhere, but that was it.

Lucas was still thinking about this when the other walked back into the room, wearing a different set of the same uniform from before, and headed to the door.

Lucas jumped to his feet and headed him off before he could reach it.

"What's your name?" the question was blurted from Lucas's mouth- he hadn't meant to ask it just yet- not now, not like this…but he needed to know the answer- had to ask it before something else happened. "I'm Lucas- what's your name?"

The other blinked slowly, as if confused by the question. "I'm- I'm the Commander of the Army."

"That's not a name." Lucas said softly. "That's a title."

For a second, their eyes met through the mask- for just a second, Lucas's eyes met and held his one uncovered eye- and then the other was gone, pushing past Lucas and out the door, before Lucas could speak or move or do anything.

The door clicked shut as Lucas stared at it- and then came the sound of the lock being turned and the footsteps, walking away.

Lucas groaned- briefly covered his face with his hands, before shaking his head and straightening up.

That hadn't gone so well- he hadn't learned anything at all.

But now that he was alone in the room, maybe he could investigate and find some clues?

It wasn't much a room, really, Lucas realized again as he looked around. More of a grey box than anything else.

Lucas couldn't imagine living in a room like this- with no windows, no color, no fresh air. The thought of being left alone in there for who knew how long, with no way out, was bad enough- Lucas shuddered and decided to think of something else.

…clues.

Other than the dresser and the bed and the cot, there wasn't anything in the room- not even a rug.

The dresser was worth a look though. He and Claus had hidden all types of things in their dresser drawers when they were kids- and sometimes their mom hadn't been too happy with them for that- like the frog they'd tried to keep as a pet. Maybe-just maybe- he'd find something there. And when he was done with the dresser, he could investigate the bathroom.

Lucas nodded to himself, pleased with this start of a plan and stepped forward.

There was nothing- not trace of any clues whatsoever- unless the lack of clues itself was a clue.

There was only the same set of clothing, over and over again, in the dresser, and there wasn't even much of that.

In the top drawer, there were three sets of the rough pajamas that Lucas was wearing.

In the second drawer was underwear and socks.

In the third drawer were three white t-shirts.

In the fourth drawer were three pairs of orange pants.

They were all folded neatly- even more neatly than Lucas folded his things. He handled them carefully, to avoid messing them up. It made him feel kinda bad, snooping around like this, but Lucas didn't really have a choice. He needed- he needed to know what was going on.

But there was nothing in the drawers but the rather lonely sets of clothes.

Lucas sighed and turned away- and his eyes landed on the cot and the bed- and Lucas frowned.

They were some pretty sad blankets. Even the nursing home that Grandpa and Mr. Wess were stuck in had better blankets than these things, and most of their stuff was pretty worn out.

…why would the boy who was the Commander of the Pigmask Army have such tacky things?

When the Pigmasks had mixed the two of them up, they'd been really respectful and polite- they'd even seemed to like him.

Things weren't adding up.

…this morning, hadn't the other asked him if he needed anything? Maybe he should take him up on that offer- see what happened. Maybe he could convince him to get another blanket for himself, too. Despite what he'd said last night, this place was cold- he had to be cold, just like Lucas.

Lucas pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the bathroom.

He'd noticed last night that it was like one of the ones at Club Titboo- it had a sink and a toilet and even a shower. Lucas was a little overwhelmed by all this. He'd never had a bathroom at all in his house- like everyone else in the village until three years ago, his family had used an outhouse.

Underneath the sink there was a drawer and a cabinet- there wasn't anything in there except for some toilet paper and a couple bars of soap.

That was it.

Lucas sighed and stood up- back in the other room, the door clicked as it was unlocked.

Lucas slowly walked out of the bathroom at the same time that the other walked in the bedroom.

Without any sort of greeting, he held out a set of clothes to Lucas.

"Um, thanks." Lucas said automatically as he took them- his mom had always taught him to be polite after all.

The other didn't say anything- Lucas caught his eyes flickering to meet his before skittering away again.

With one last look at the still silent Commander, Lucas returned to the bathroom and shut the door.

The t-shirt was first- like the Commander's, it was plain and white. Lucas was glad that it wasn't rough and scratchy like the weird clothes from yesterday and the pajamas he was currently changing out of.

The pants and jacket matched and were made out of the same type of material- it was a little stiff, but seemed like it would be durable- and it wasn't scratchy either.

With only slight hesitation, Lucas put them on. He wondered if the other had ordered them made to his own measurements. Just the uniform that the Pigmasks had made him wear when they had mixed the two of them up, the clothes fit perfectly.

Lucas moved for the door, then remembered his hair. He grabbed the comb he'd seen earlier and combed his hair so it didn't stick up the haystack of a lazy farmer, then smiled, tentatively, at himself in the mirror.

"Lookin' handsome." he said softly. These clothes- they weren't that bad. A nice shade of blue, at least.

A commanding knock at the door caused Lucas to jump slightly.

"Coming!" he rushed for the door and opened it as the other was in mid-knock. "Sorry for taking so long."

The other boy looked at him- Lucas moved closer, trying to catch a glimpse of what was in those eyes, but the other turned his head. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess I am."

Saying nothing at all, the other headed for the door and Lucas followed.

The hallways were the same as yesterday- Lucas tried to map them out his head, but didn't get very far- they all looked the same, and so many questions were screaming for attention in his head- well, the other had promised that he would answer Lucas's questions, right? And there weren't any Pigmasks around at the moment. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but one question jumped apart from the others in his head, and he had to ask it.

"So why are you pulling the Needles anyway?" he asked as they walked through practically empty halls, "do you want the Dragon's power? Do you want it to make you stronger or something?"

The other boy didn't stop, but he did give Lucas a quick, slightly puzzled look over one shoulder. "The Dragon?"

"The one that's sleeping underneath the Islands- pulling the Needles will wake it up…" Lucas trailed off at the blank look on the other's face. "You don't know about the Dragon?" he asked, coming to a stop without realizing it.

The other boy shook his head and kept walking, and Lucas had to run to catch up to him.

"Then why are you pulling the Needles?"

"Because I was ordered to."

"By who?"

"Master Porky."

Lucas felt cold- he couldn't have said why. "Who's he?"

The other blinked slightly, as if expecting Lucas to already know. "The King- King of New Pork City, of the Army, of all these Islands."

"So this… "Master Porky" is the guy who- he's the one behind everything? The one behind the chimeras? The one behind the Happy Boxes and the town changing? The one behind everything- he's it? He's the reason?"

"Yes." the other said, not turning to look at Lucas, just keeping on walking.

Maybe that was just as well- Lucas felt his head spinning. One person was behind it all- behind everything.

Faces flashed before his mind's eye. His grandpa, standing alone in the streets of Tazmily- Mr. Wess's face as they began to rip up his house to make the "Old Men's Home"- Dad's face as he learned about Mom- Claus, turning to face him one last time before he left to fight the Mecha-Drago-

Lucas realized that his fists were clenching themselves tight at the thought of all the people that had been hurt because of the things that the Pigmask Army had done.

They reached the mess hall then.

It didn't have as many Pigmasks as it had last night, but there were still a large number of them there.

"Hey guys!" called a Pigmask from the food line, "We actually got something besides toast this morning!"

"Really? What do we got?" asked a Pigmask who had entered right in front of them.

"Omelets!"

"Omelets?" Lucas asked, perking up. He loved omelets! Apparently, the other noticed that in his voice, because he turned to face him.

"…you like omelets?"

"I love omelets." Lucas said happily, "Mom would always make them for us- her omelets were the best in the whole world." he sighed a bit, then remembered where he was and looked up- the other had his head ducked down and he began to push and maneuver Lucas into line.

"Oh Commander- hi!" The Pigmask in blue said as they approached. "You want your usual, right? And what about this person here?"

The other boy had started to nod when the Pigmask had started speaking, but paused when he'd mentioned Lucas- paused long enough that the other Pigmask- the one wearing pink- turned to Lucas himself.

"Hi there! I see you're checking out the omelets-" he lifted one up with his spatula and put it on a plate, then offered it to Lucas. "You want to try it, right?"

Lucas gave him a startled look for a minute, before smiling and accepting it. Once the plate was in his hands, he stared down at it briefly- breathed out deeply, before turning and handing the plate to the other boy. "I- I really like omelets- they're my favorite food- I think they're the best- so let's both have them, okay?"

For a moment, the other boy stared at him- Lucas didn't know if it was just him, but he thought the mess hall got really quiet- and then he the other boy boy spun away from him sharply, turning back to the Pigmask cooks.

"…the usual for both of us. But also- an omelet too."

Lucas thought he might have grinned as they walked away. They both got omelets.

The other boy walked to a table, quickly and without looking around at all, Lucas followed just a little bit behind.

"You've been staring at me." the other placed his tray on the table- he didn't sit down, but he didn't turn around and face Lucas either.

Lucas didn't know what to say- he ducked his head shyly and slid his tray onto the table next to the other boy's.

"Why do you keep staring at me?"

"…because I'm trying to figure you out."

The other cocked his head to the side a little at that- like he was trying to figure out Lucas too.

Lucas looked at him- he didn't have anything else to say, or at least, anything else that he knew how to say- until the other boy turned away from him.

"You're hungry, right? Sit down and eat."

Lucas sat down, gave the other one last look and picked up his fork- poked at his omelet and sighed.

The other boy paused and gave him a curious look.

"It's all greasy." Lucas answered the unasked question sadly, and he flipped the omelet over, "And they burned it too." he sighed again. "It's not like it's real bad or anything, but I can make better omelets than this."

"…you can cook?" it might have just been Lucas's imagination, but he thought he heard disbelief in his voice.

"I can." Lucas said, just a little bit indignantly. Why did no one think he could do anything? "I'm not very good yet, but I'm not bad. Lots of people say so- Duster, Kumatora, even Mr. Wess says I'm pretty good- and he's kinda picky and he doesn't give complements easily." Lucas looked down at the omelet sitting in front of him. He poked at it again.

"…you should eat your food. Food gives you energy-makes you strong." the other was bent over his food- hunched over a bit, but Lucas could see his eyes focusing on him, before they moved back to the food on his plate and he took another bite.

"…why do you care?"

"You're mine now. I'm going to take care of you."

"…and what are you going to do with me?"

"Keep you safe." and his tone said this was obvious. "Keep you out of trouble- keep you from causing trouble."

"I'm not the one causing trouble- the Pigmasks are the ones causing trouble." Lucas spoke softly, but firmly- he didn't look away from the other boy at all.

The other was staring at him- how Lucas hated that stupid helmet, hiding the other boy's face from him like that!- he couldn't tell what he was thinking. Lucas kept talking, trying to explain- he needed him to understand- "The Pigmasks are the ones behind the chimeras- they're always running loose and attacking people, and if that wasn't bad enough, the chimeras are victims too. They didn't choose to be what they are. I feel so bad for them- but I can't let them hurt people, so I have to stop them."

The other boy flinched slightly, but didn't respond other than that. Part of Lucas wished he would, so that they could actually talk- the other part was glad he wasn't saying anything, because there were so many things Lucas wanted to say-

"And the Pigmasks are also the ones behind the "Old Man's Paradise"- that's what they call it, but it's really an awful place. It's where they lock up all the older people- including my grandpa. They don't let them out, and it's an awful place, all broken down and sad-" Lucas released a breath- there were so many things he needed to talk about, he didn't know what to say next- the other shifted as if he was going to say something, and Lucas barreled on.

"Me and Duster and Kumatora and Boney- all we want is to be able to live with the people we care about. We don't want Happy Boxes or any of that new stuff- we don't need it and we don't want it. But if other people do- I won't stand in their way. I'm only pulling the Needles because the Magypsies- they're supposed to be the guardians of the Needles- asked me to- because they were afraid of what would happen if the wrong person pulled them- we just don't want the world to be destroyed- that's all."

"...What are you talking about?" the other boy asked, definite confusion in his voice. "We don't want the world to be destroyed either."

"Well, the Magypsies were worried, because some of them couldn't feel your heart when you pulled the Needles. They were worried that meant that you had no heart to pass onto the Dragon, which meant that the world would be destroyed, because the Dragon is supposed to inherit the heart of whoever pulls the Needles." Lucas stopped talking, briefly, and studied the other for a moment. "I think they were wrong…I think you do have a heart. You must have a heart- if you didn't, the Pigmasks wouldn't worship you the way they do- who can worship a machine that doesn't care if you live or die?- and you would have killed me and my friends before. I don't know why they couldn't feel your heart- maybe they were just out of practice- but I'm sure you have a heart."

The other was staring at him now- Lucas didn't know what or why, but something he said must have shocked him.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a sound- footsteps behind them, and they turned to see a Pigmask- one of the ranking ones, his uniform a color other than the usual pink- he snapped to attention as they looked at him.

"Commander! King P is on the communicator and waiting to speak to you!"

The other studied the Pigmask briefly, then stood up.

"…should I just wait here?" Lucas asked him uncertainly.

He turned to Lucas - but before he could respond, the Pigmask spoke up again.

"Actually sir, he said that you're supposed to take him with you." he sounded rather apologetic- he was also sneaking curious peeks at Lucas. At least, the position of his head seemed to point to that. It was kinda hard to tell, without being able to see his face.

Lucas was beginning to get really sick of masks.

The other boy stood still a moment- turned to look at Lucas again, briefly, before turning back to the Pigmask. "Tell him we're coming- I'm coming, and I'm bringing him."

The Pigmask saluted and oinked and hurried away.

Lucas stood up and stepped close to the other. He wasn't sure what to think…this Porky was the one behind everything- so he was probably a bad person, like Fassad- but this was also a chance to learn more about what was going on…

"Are you scared?" the other asked without looking at him.

Lucas was silent a moment- considering what to say. "I'm worried." he admitted finally, "but I'm not really scared. You'll be with me, right?"

The other- he moved- like he'd touched something, and gotten shocked by it. And then he turned to look at Lucas.

Lucas simply, steadily, returned his gaze, not looking away.

The other swallowed and turned away. "Don't talk unless he asks you a question. Just do as I say- follow me."

"Okay." Lucas said, following him as he began to walk again, "I'll trust you." he said it quietly, but loud enough that the other could hear. All Lucas could see was his back- he thought he might've twitched again, but he was moving, so it was hard to tell- but it seemed to Lucas that he was walking slower- that it wasn't as hard to keep up with him now.

If Kumatora or Duster had been here, they probably would have gotten mad at him for telling the other boy the truth about how he was feeling, Lucas thought as they turned another corner. But Lucas knew that he had a heart, and he knew that he wasn't evil- and he needed to gain the other's trust and show him that-

They walked through several hallways- some with more Pigmasks than others- and whenever they ran into some, they stopped and saluted the boy in the helmet- and he always acknowledged them- lifted his hand in a fist as they walked past.

Lucas was doing his best to look around and trying to remember where things were, but they all kept mixing together in his head- he wasn't used to navigating in a place without stars or landmarks. He wondered if they had any maps of this place…

Finally, they arrived- the other stopped in front of a door with the word "Communications" printed on it- he opened it and went inside.

Reluctantly, but not hesitantly, Lucas followed him inside.

The Pigmask from before- at least, Lucas thought he was the same one- saluted as they entered, then bowed towards the back of the room, and then left.

In the back of the room was a huge screen- it almost covered the wall. The screen blurred and crackled a bit- but it showed a close-up of a face- Lucas couldn't tell if it was a young person's face or an old person's face- it was closely zoomed in, making it even harder to tell.

Upon seeing them, the face laughed. "Hello Commander- or should I say, slave?" he giggled, and Lucas's skin crawled.

The other boy dropped to one knee in a bow and discreetly gestured for Lucas to do the same.

Lucas did the same- he didn't hesitate, but his knees itched with the urge to jump to his feet again. He ducked his head, so he wouldn't have to look at the face on the screen and so the face on the screen couldn't see his expression.

"And I see my slave has a slave of his own now. Aw, how adorable." Again came the creepy giggle. "Oh slave, the "Nice Person Hot Springs" are almost completed- do you want to send him to take a dip in them?"

"No." the other answered quickly. "It's not necessary."

"Not necessary?" the voice seemed amused. Lucas almost looked, before remembering just in time not to.

"He's a good boy- obedient. He does what I tell him."

"Like you and me, huh? Ha ha ha!"

Lucas's fists clenched- he had to fight to relax them and keep them relaxed.

"Yes sir." the other said tonelessly.

"Well, make sure you keep control of him- don't forget to use that collar! And send some of my toy soldiers to go check out that temple- there must be some way inside! Make sure you send some scientists along too."

"Yes sir. I'll see to it."

"Good. And oh, slave…if your little slave gets out of control, I'll know who to blame, got it?"

"Yes Master Porky."

"Hey you! Slave of a slave!"

Lucas jumped and looked up without thinking about it.

"You understand too, right?" the face grinned at him- way too wide, way too many teeth- it looked like one of the eerie smiles from Tanetane Island.

Lucas nodded- he felt like he was going to be sick- maybe it was a good thing he hadn't actually eaten anything- not that so-called omelet or that weird porridge.

"Hey slave! You need to teach your slave better manners. It's always "yes, Master Porky"!"

"Yes Master Porky." Lucas said quickly. Worry for the other drove out nausea induced by the Pig King.

"Much better. Slave, don't forget that the Needles are your priority!"

"Yes, Master Porky… sir? About the Needles- what is your purpose for-"

The face laughed, not even letting the other boy finish his question. "Haven't you learned by now not to ask questions like that, slave? You are just to do my bidding. That is all. Your only purpose is to do as I say, right?"

"Yes, Master Porky."

For the first time in his life, Lucas knew hate.

He'd known anger, knew it well, though it rarely stayed long- but this was the first time he knew hate, pure hate, unmixed by any other emotions- for a minute, it flooded him, filled him- he was shocked to find so much hate inside him.

Once the feeling faded enough that Lucas could think again, he realized that the face was gone from the screen and the other had turned back to look at him.

"You're even more trapped than I am." The words came out of his mouth before he was even aware of them forming in his head.

"…what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just trapped like this." Lucas tapped the collar around his neck. "You're trapped up here." and he tapped his head.

The other tilted his head, still staring at Lucas.

"I'm Lucas. What's your name?"

"…we already went over this." he turned away and started for the door.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to give up until you tell me your real name." Lucas said softly as he followed.

Whatever the truth of the "Commander's" real name and identity- he was a person, a real person, with a heart and a soul- it wasn't fair that that face on the screen, that Porky- it wasn't fair that he didn't treat him like a person. And he even rubbed his face in it- took evil glee in it!

Lucas made a vow to himself right then and there.

Lucas was definitely going to help him- this person who wasn't aware he was a person.

Lucas was going to save him, and together they'd find a way out of this trap and back to Duster and Kumatora and Boney- and together, they'd find a way to keep the world safe and they'd fix everything- and the world would be safe and everyone would be happy.

Lucas nodded to himself- sped up so that he was by the other boy's side instead of just following him. The other's head twitched in his direction before he looked straight ahead again.

Lucas smiled at him anyway.

Yes, he'd definitely do it. He'd save this person, and together they'd save the world- and everything would be okay again.

They would escape together.

OoOoOo

Trying to hint at the fact that Lucas has guessed the "Masked Man's" identity, even if he hasn't quite dared to put it into words yet, not even to himself.

Have I mentioned yet that I love you guys for reviewing every single chapter thus far? Seriously, coming on and finding your reviews makes my day. They make me smile and dance through the apartment like a crazy person- and then people start questioning my sanity again.

Thank you and please kept reviewing and telling me what you think!


	6. Chapter 5

"Where's little Lucas?" Ionia asked as soon as they walked through the door.

Boney whimpered.

"I wish I knew." Kumatora hurled herself into the nearest chair, not looking at anyone. After Duster had fallen into that weird trance like state and she'd punched him out of it, she and Boney had dragged him out of the place, ignoring his claims that he was okay. After camping out briefly- just long enough to make sure that Duster really was okay and just long enough for the rest of them to regain some energy, they'd gone back to searching for Lucas, keeping an eye out for Flint as they did so- but they hadn't found anything. Boney couldn't even follow Flint's scent past a certain point.

Eventually, Duster had called the whole thing to a stop- had pointed out that they needed something else to go on, otherwise they'd never find Lucas. So they'd come back here.

"He was captured by the Masked Man." Duster was trying to explain in the present, "He's the other guy who's pulling the Needles- the one who's with the Pigmasks."

"Oh dear." Ionia said, one hand hovering over the lipstick covered mouth. "That isn't good."

"No duh." Kumatora snapped, and then tucked into herself- pulled up her knees and wrapping her arms around them as Ionia turned towards her with a gently scolding look.

Ionia had always been able to do that to her-

"Don't worry about Lucas."

Kumatora jerked her head up in amazement- Ionia was smiling!

"Darling, you don't think that Lucas is a weakling, do you?"

"No! Of course not-"

"Then trust him. Believe that he's strong enough to survive on his own until you and Mr. Whiskers find him. Besides-" Ionia winked. "The one who awakens the Dragon needs to be strong, don't you think?"

Kumatora didn't answer- she sighed and lowered her head again. What she really wanted to do was smash something, but that wouldn't be fair to Ionia.

She kept seeing Lucas's face in her mind- the face he'd made when they'd reached the temple to find the Masked Man and the Pigmasks already there- the face he always made when a Needle was pulled and a Magyspy disappeared- the face he'd made when he'd come through the door of Doria's pink shell to find her there-

Ionia walked over and patted her head gently. "Well, I suppose it is only human to worry- and these boys are your first real friends aren't they?"

"…yeah." Kumatora admitted, still not looking up. She didn't want to look up and see Boney still worrying about Lucas-didn't want to see Duster's face, confused by this whole conversation- and she really didn't want to look up and see Ionia's way too understanding face!

Because that was the whole problem- Ionia did understand.

Kumatora had never and probably would never say it out loud, but you could draw a line through the Magyspsies and divide them into two groups. They didn't see it like that, but it was pretty clear to her. There were the ones who thought that humans were dumb and pointless, and then there were ones who thought humans could be pretty dumb at times but could be cool the rest of the time.

Ionia would sometimes have Wess come over- even though the old geezer was grumpy, and complained a lot, he was also the only one that didn't smell overwhelmingly like perfume and scold her for not trying to be something she wasn't. Sometimes the Magyspy and the older thief rubbed each other the wrong way- like when Wess would show up without any warning, and accidentally pick a time when Ionia was walking around without makeup. But even though they argued, they got along- when sometimes they would talk about Duster, if they thought she wasn't around- she didn't know why the old geezer insulted him to his face and then boasted about him when he wasn't around- but Ionia always listened real patiently, only adding in a "How cute!" now and then.

Ionia- and sometimes Doria and Lydia too- even told stories once in a while about other humans they'd known. The stories weren't always flattering to the humans, but they were fond stories, and even if the Magyspies were all too aware of the humans' flaws, they were aware of their good points too.

Ionia patted Kumatora on the shoulder gently, before turning to Duster.

"So, tell me about this mysterious Masked Man who's even stronger than adorable little Lucas."

"He's not stronger." Kumatora said defensively. "He used a dirty trick- that's all."

"He wears a helmet." Duster said. "So we've never seen his face- and he's never spoken to us or even spoken in front of us at all- we really don't know anything about him, not even his name."

"He's the Commander of the Pigmask Army, he wears black and he has PSI powers. That's pretty much all we know about him. That, and I'm going to bash his face in the next time I see him." Kumatora said pleasantly.

Ionia sighed. "So unladylike."

Kumatora bristled. "Lucas is my friend! I don't let anyone hurt my friends!"

"Your devotion is one of your cute qualities." Ionia said with a smile. "But tell me darling, how did this mysterious Masked Man know that Lucas was the only other one capable of pulling the needles? Did he witness him in the act or something?"

Duster and Kumatora looked at each other.

"No…"

"That's a good question- how did he know?"

"Lucky guess?" Kumatora suggested with a shrug. "Does it really matter? The important thing is rescuing Lucas! We've got to find out where that stupid Masked Man took him and rescue him!"

"But if we can get into the Masked Man's head, figure out why, then maybe we can figure where he took him." Duster pointed out.

"…okay, that's true. But I don't think we know enough about this guy to try to figure anything out- that's why we came here." Kumatora turned quickly to Ionia. "That one time when I was a kid and set out to find my parents and I got lost in the woods, you came and found me-"

"And you're hoping I used some special power or magical item to find you? Sorry, sweetie, I just kept looking until I found you. But I do have something that may help…" Ionia walked over to a corner of the room- to a set of drawers and pulled out something and returned to the table with it. It looked like a huge marble.

"What is it?"

"Please put one hand on the crystal ball- both of you, and you too cute doggy. Now- please think of Lucas."

_ I hope he's okay_- sprang into her mind, and she tried not to think of all the horrible things that the Masked Man and the stupid Pigmasks could be doing to him- she made herself think instead of Lucas, one of the first friends she'd ever had- his embarrassed face, his strong face, his confused face, his friendly face, his weak face, his happy face-

Something shifted in the ball- Kumatora blinked and focused on it.

The ball was showing a picture of Lucas.

Kumatora gasped.

Boney barked and sniffed at it.

"Wow." Duster breathed.

The ball showed Lucas wearing different clothes- a jacket, blue and maybe a little stiff looking, and pants of the same material- the jacket had a fluffy collar, Kumatora noticed as Lucas turned his head- it looked almost like that stupid Commander's.

He seemed a little uncertain- a little nervous- but he didn't look hurt.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least we know he's alive and okay." Duster said softly, then turned to Ionia. "You can't get it to show us where he's at?"

Ionia shook her head regretfully. "Sorry darlings, there's only so much I can do."

Kumatora sprang to her feet. "Alright then! We know he's alive, time to go back to searching so that we can keep it that way!"

"Hold up darling." Ionia said, leaving the ball-the image vanishing as the ball was abandoned- and standing up. "When was the last time you ate or slept?"

Kumatora looked at the Magyspy, then at Duster.

Duster stood up and sighed. "I know how you feel, Kumatora- but we can't rescue Lucas if we fall apart on the journey instead."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kumatora admitted reluctantly, "I just..." she trailed off, and Duster stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Lucas used to be a bit of a crybaby, did you know that?"

"The geezer did say something about that… it's hard to believe though."

"He's gotten stronger." Duster agreed, "He had to. But the point is, I think we can trust him to be strong until we can rescue him."

Kumatora nodded reluctantly.

"I'll prepare supper for you three." Ionia said with a wink. "And I'll make sure to make something that you can take with you to feed to Lucas when you rescue him."

"Thanks."

Ionia walked over to the other side of the room, and then into the hallway where the kitchen was.

"Prepare yourself." Kumatora muttered.

"Why?"

"You know how I'm a lousy cook?"

"Yeah…"

"Ionia's the one who taught me. And I learned well."

"…oh."

Boney whined at their feet.

Kumatora leaned over and petted him."Don't worry, we'll get him back."

"(I wish I could track him.)" Boney whined, "(if that guy had walked away instead of flown, I might have been able to follow Lucas's scent.)"

"You couldn't smell anything about the Masked Man earlier, right?" Duster asked, crouching next to them.

Boney nodded. "(He'd used something funny to clean with- it was way too stinky.)"

Duster nodded reluctantly, looking thoughtful, before looking up again. "Boney. Do you have any idea where Flint is at all?"

Boney looked at the floor and whined softly.

"I need you to go find him. Things have been happening so fast-" Duster dropped his hand and groaned, before digging through his pockets and coming up with pen and paper. "I'm going to give you a message to give to Alec and my dad, and I'm giving you another message to give to Flint, alright? The fact that Pigmasks can't get into the Temple buys us some time, but not much- I just hope that they don't figure out what the vial of water is for." he finished the messages and tucked them inside Boney's collar. "At least with everyone else gone from Tazmily, they're able to move freely- but we've got to find Lucas fast. Who knows what they're going to do to him in revenge for messing up their plans? Sorry to ask this of you, but can you go give these to them now? You should take a break afterwards- rest and eat something at Flint's house- if he doesn't show up by tomorrow, go search for him. We'll take a short rest here and then keep searching, alright?"

Boney barked, eager to do something to help.

"Alright boy, go get 'em!" Kumatora cheered, and Boney barked once more before dashing off.

"Where's the cute doggy off to?" Ionia asked, coming up behind them.

"To tell my father and Lucas's father and grandfather what's going on. Things have been happening so fast- my dad and Lucas's grandfather knew we were headed here, but we didn't have enough time to explain about the Needles and I haven't seen Lucas's dad in three years, so…"

"Not a yummy pickle, is it?" Ionia sighed. "The food is almost done, at least, and the beds are ready. I prepared your old room for you, Kumatora darling."

"Thanks." Kumatora said quietly, still worried about Lucas- and then remembered a conversation she and Lucas had on Tanetane Island- they'd been talking about the hallucinations while trying not to talk about the hallucinations- and he'd asked her what her parents had been like- and then he'd stammered and apologized and said that she didn't have to say anything if she didn't want to. She'd told him the truth- that she didn't mind him asking, but she didn't really have anything to tell him- because she didn't remember anything about them.

"Ionia?" she heard Duster ask.

"Yes, darling?"

"While we were searching for Lucas, we found this old building in the woods- it was was covered with vines-"

"Oh, you did find the temple-"

"No Ionia. This place- I don't know what it was. But it wasn't the temple- we'd found that before- that was where we were when Lucas got captured. But this place... it was different."

"It looked more like one of the Pigmasks' bases than the temple." Kumatora said, pulling herself back to the present, but not letting go of her previous train of thought either.

"But it wasn't one of those either." Duster insisted.

"I don't know why you keep saying that Duster. I mean, you could be right, but they're the only group on the island who have technology, and that place was full of technology. If it's not one of the Pigmask bases I don't know what it is."

Duster sighed. "I don't either." he admitted, then turned to Ionia. "Do you have any idea what that place is?" Ionia started to shrug even as Duster kept talking, "It's white- well, it was white- and it still mostly is. It's also a funny sort of shape- actually, it's shaped a lot like those Pigmask flying ships..."

Ionia had remained still, only watching him with vague curiosity- and then something crossed the Magypsy's face so fast- then Ionia spun- faced the window that faced in the direction of the Temple. "I see- that's the sort of place, is it? Well darlings, I'm afraid I can't help you. But if the little piggies aren't there, then there's probably no point in searching it, right?"

"...I guess you've got a point. Still..." Duster folded his arms and trailed off.

Kumatora looked from him to Ionia and then back again. Since neither of them was saying anything else, she decided that now was as good a time as any to ask that question she'd been meaning to ask.

"Hey, Ionia…what were my parents like?" It wasn't that she'd never asked about her parents before- she had. It was just that the responses she got tended to be either irritation, "I'll tell you when you're older", or just plain vague. After a while, she'd given up. Now seemed like it would be a good time to try again though- if nothing else, because she wouldn't have another chance seemed like a good enough reason.

"Hm…" Ionia said, somewhat distractedly- probably also worrying about Lucas. "I'm sure I don't know darling."

"But I thought you knew them- Doria said you guys raised my mom too- she said it was a tradition- that the girls in my family were always given to the Magypsies to raise- she said it was a tradition or something …" Kumatora trailed off at the look Ionia was giving her- part puzzlement, like not a single word coming out of Kumatora's mouth was making any sense- and then she gave a sharp little jump, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh! Silly me! Yes, of course- but we didn't take turns taking care of her the way we did with you- Doria pretty much raised her all by herself, so I never really got to know her." Ionia gave a half hearted little giggle- and Kumatora noticed Duster giving Ionia a funny look.

He noticed her looking at him and shook his head, telling her not to ask yet- and then gave a cheerful smile to Ionia when she turned to look at him, following Kumatora's line of sight.

Ionia switched her gaze from Duster to Kumatora and back again before seeming to dismiss it. "The food should be ready in just a minute- I'm going to go check it, okay darlings?"

Duster and Kumatora nodded- and once she was sure Ionia was out of earshot, Kumatora turned to Duster.

"Okay, what was that about?"

Duster turned away- for a moment, Kumatora tensed up, thinking he was avoiding her question, but then he turned back and she recognized his thoughtful look, and realized he'd just been gathering his thoughts. "Well, it's hard for me to say…you've known Ionia your whole life and I just met her today- but it seemed to me that she was acting…off."

"…off?" Kumatora repeated, partially to poke fun at him, partially to get him to explain.

"You remember back at Club Titboo, how you never wanted to talk about your past or where you came from? At first, you weren't that used to lying, so you stumbled and mumbled and laughed suspiciously- just like Ionia did now."

"…you think Ionia is lying about my mom?"

"I don't know." Duster sighed. "I'm pretty sure there's something Ionia's not telling you, but I could be wrong- like I said, I don't know her like you do."

Kumatora turned away from Duster to stare in the direction Ionia had gone. "Ionia…wasn't like the others. Doria and Lydia were nice- Aeolia was okay most of the time- you met Phrygia and Mixolydia."

Duster nodded, frowning as he remembered them.

"Of course, those two were on their best behavior when they met you." Kumatora folded her arms and chuckled bitterly. "One year, it was Phrygia's turn to have me. One night, I'd had enough of her harassing me, calling me out on every little thing I did- I left in the middle of the night and walked all the way back to Doria's place. It took her a week to come around asking for me- anyway, that's not important anymore. I only met Locria once, a long time ago… she refused to have anything to do with me. But Ionia was the only one who ever treated my questions like they were something important- even stupid kid questions like "why is the sky blue?" and "where do babies come from?" -even stuff like that, she always answered real patiently… and she never lied to me. She never lied to make the answer easier, but she did think over answers to make she explained the best she could…" Kumatora trailed off, no longer sure what she was trying to say. She began to pace, hoping movement would make the words come. Behind her, she heard Duster shift - the sound telling her how uncomfortable he was feeling. She turned to look at him- didn't have any more words…

"Darlings, the food's ready!" Ionia's voice trilled from the kitchen- hearts practically dripped from her voice.

"…Duster." Kumatora said softly. "…I can only worry about one thing at a time- but once we rescue Lucas, remind me to ask Ionia some more questions, okay?"

"Okay, I'll remind you."

She turned to smile at him, briefly, a bit embarrassed by all the emotional stuff- all the weak faces she'd been showing him. "Thanks Duster."

He shook his head slightly, also smiling. "No problem."

They entered the kitchen.

OoOoOoOo

Honestly, I really don't like the Magyspsies. I hate Phrygia and Mixolydia(mostly because of their attitudes when Flint's searching for Claus, but considering that Mixolydia just leaves the Barrier Trio there to pummel Lucas and co which leads to another win for the Pigmasks…yeah), I'm okay with the others for the most part... still, the most heart breaking moments of Mother 3 could have been avoided if they had any common sense. So yep, not a fan.

And in the next chapter- which hopefully will be done soon- wasn't even supposed to exist, the freakin' thing just wrote itself into existence. (sigh)

As always, thank you for your reviews and please comment on this chapter and tell me what you think!


	7. Chapter 6

After finishing the report to Master Porky, the Commander had returned to the mess hall, the boy- **_"Lucas!"_**_ -_ Lucas staying close by his side.

It had been foolish of him to attempt to ask a question of Master Porky. He was lucky that the Pig King hadn't made him go through the whole list of things he liked to have him repeat from time to time.

Still, the Needles were mysterious. Not that he should be asking questions, but knowledge was a good thing- for example, if he knew he was going to have to fight a chimera, and he was able to find out about its strengths and weaknesses beforehand, he would do a better job of fighting it.

They reentered the hall- found the plates that had contained their food were gone, and there was a group of the soldiers sitting at the table where they'd been before. This had happened before- happened when anything urgent had come up that required his attention and he couldn't finish eating. He simply kept walking to the counter- the two soldiers in charge of the food saw them coming and began preparing two more trays of food.

The Commander kept thinking about the Needles as he walked towards them- even as he accepted the tray and waited for the other to accept his-even as they began to walk towards one of the tables.

He shouldn't be thinking about this still- he had other things he needed to see to today. Not only was the Ultimate Chimera still running free, it had escaped from the Chimera Lab so that they no longer had any idea where it was- but it felt almost like he was being forced to think about the situation with the Needles, as if one of the scientists had taken a giant mental magnet and was pulling his attention irresistibly in that direction.

Well, Master Porky had said that the Needles were the priority, hadn't he? And if the Commander had more information, he could take care of the Needles quicker, and return his focus to his regular duties- he hadn't been able to fulfill them with his normal care because of all the trips he'd had to make to get to where the Needles were- so the quicker he could take care of the Needles, the quicker he could return to the base and the boy- but how could he find out more about the Needles?

He couldn't ask Master Porky- and he'd already heard the scientists making guesses about them and realized that they didn't know much either- and he'd had the men asking him about them from the beginning. He couldn't ask any of them- who did that leave?

**_"Ask Lucas." _** whispered the voice- he twitched- was aware of the food sliding slightly across the tray as his hands trembled.

They reached an empty table- sat down again.

The boy- **_"Lucas!"_**_ -_ Lucas was being quiet right now- the Commander tilted his head slightly, studying him- he had a thoughtful look on his face- then the other boy noticed him looking at him and turned to look back at him- the Commander turned to his food and began eating it.

Come to think of it, the voice was being very insistent about calling the boy by his name. Actually, he was the only one without a rank or title- everyone else affiliated with the Army had a rank or a title- Master Porky was the King, all of the scientists were either doctors or assistants, everyone in the Army had a rank, and he himself was the Commander- but the boy- Lucas was only Lucas.

The name was rolling around in his head- it had done that before too, when the boy had first told him his name- or had that been the first time? It sounded...familiar?

Lucas. Lucas Lucas Lucas-

The Commander shook his head.

"The ones you mentioned before- the ones who are supposed to be the guardians of the Needles-" the words came out of his mouth abruptly, as the other boy finished his omelet- surprising them both- and then the Commander shut his mouth, not sure what he'd been about to say.

"...the Magyspsies?" The boy- Lucas- his voice was quiet, but not hesitant. "Yep, that's what they are."

"...they're not very good at it. Except for the one at the Temple. How do we get in?"

"I can't tell you that. It's not my secret- I'm sorry." the boy was quiet for a moment- before the Commander could come up with a good response, a good incentive to make the boy talk, he turned back to him- blue eyes meeting his seriously, without fear. "They disappear when their Needle is pulled, you know."

"...disappear?"

"It's like dying. It's slightly different, because they're not human, so they don't die like humans. It's just as permanent though. Once they're gone, they don't come back." The boy looked... sad? Was that it? He sighed and picked up his spoon- stirred the porridge in front of him. "Aeolia, Lydia, and Mixolydia... those are the names of the Magyspsies whose Needles you pulled." Before the Commander could say anything about how he had been following orders, the boy- Lucas- dropped the spoon in the bowl as if something had just occurred to him, and spun to face him. "Oh, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything." he said quickly, blue eyes totally focused on him, "I know that you didn't know, and it's not your fault- I just wanted you to know their names- so that they wouldn't be forgotten. After all, just because someone's dead, that doesn't mean that people should forget about them as if they'd never existed, because they did exist, and people should remember them."

The Commander couldn't say anything to that- it felt like something was in his throat trying to choke him-

The voice was murmuring something, but he couldn't make out the words, refused to listen to the words- he started to move, to turn away from the boy, but he reached out- grabbed his hand.

"I just wanted you to know their names." Large blue eyes swallowed him like the sky as he smiled-

"And you?"

The boy blinked, and the Commander began searching for words- his question was too short, he'd have to try again and rephrase it, no one ever understood what he was asking when his questions were that short-

"Doria and Phrygia." the boy- Lucas- said, smiling again. "I was the one who pulled their Needles. Ionia and Locria are the ones who are left- and no one knows where Locria is. So Ionia is all alone right now." the boy's smile was slipping now- and then it went away. "I- I know how it feels to be all alone."

The boy- Lucas- his voice was so quiet, the Commander wasn't sure he had really heard it- the choking thing was back in his throat- and then Lucas lifted his head and faced him again.

"What about you?" his voice was still quiet- but he was focused on him again- waiting patiently as the choking thing went in for the kill and the voice tried to tell him what to say-

"Commander!"

He spun to face the soldier- he was wearing the Major uniform he noted- who saluted quickly.

"Sir, we received that report you asked for- the one about the Ultimate Chimera!"

"Good. Take it to the meeting room."

The Major saluted and scurried off, and he turned back to face the boy- and stood up.

The boy- Lucas- stood up too, and then the Commander noticed that the boy's porridge was untouched.

"It's okay." the other boy said before he could say anything. "I'm not that hungry anyway."

For a moment, words tried to crawl out through his throat- then he succeeded in shoving them down and started moving. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard footsteps and knew that the boy- Lucas- was following him.

They both remained silent as they passed through the halls- stayed side by side- thoughts scurried through his mind- refusing to stay still long enough to be focused on-

The boy's name was Lucas- there was a group called the Magyspsies- the boy's name was Lucas, and he felt all alone- the Magyspsies were supposed to be the guardians of the Needles- the boy's name was Lucas and the two of them were the only ones who could pull the Needles-

The Needles. They were the priority- the boy refused to tell him how to get into the temple- but then, maybe he didn't know- he said that it wasn't his secret-

They reached the room. The Commander strode forward and opened the door- stood there, holding it, looking at the other boy and waiting for him to enter the room.

The boy stood there and looked at him. "Are you going to lock me up in there again?" he wasn't afraid- his shoulders straight, facing him without hesitation- but he was unhappy.

The Commander nodded- the choking feeling was back in his throat temporally before he shoved it away.

The boy- Lucas- glanced inside of the room before looking back at him again. "How about I promise to be quiet and I stay with you instead? I won't run away from you- I promise. I just really don't want to stay in there all by myself."

For a moment, he almost said yes- but then he remembered the Ultimate Chimera that he might have to go fight today- he couldn't let the boy get anywhere near the Ultimate Chimera, it wouldn't be safe- and what if the scientists discovered how to get into the Temple today? What if he went to go pull the Needle, and the troublemakers were still around there? What if they tried to retake the boy?

The Commander shook his head.

The boy- Lucas- looked upset- like maybe he wanted to argue- but he didn't.

He just gave a deep, sad sigh- and he walked inside the room.

The Commander started to close the door-

"Are you at least going to come back soon?"

He froze- feeling like the strongest possible PK Freeze had been cast on him.

The other boy just stood there, waiting patiently- his big blue eyes focused on him like searchlights- was the collar really blocking his PSI, or was this a new type of PK ability?

"Unknown." he finally managed to force out- then shut the door and locked it as fast as he could, before the boy could say anything else.

OoOoOo

The meetings accomplished nothing. The report said that the chimera was very strong and that a Dr. Andonuts had been in charge of the project- and he was now missing.

The scientists hadn't gotten anywhere with their investigation of the Temple, and there had been no sign of the Ultimate Chimera or the troublemakers.

The Commander left the meeting room behind- looked up and down the hallway for a moment.

Should he patrol the base one more time, or should he head back to the room now?

The boy- Lucas- had requested that he come back quickly, and he had already patrolled the base- and if an emergency occurred, they could always use the communicator- that's what they always did anyway-

The Commander found that he was already walking in the direction of the room- then slowed for a moment- realized that this was the first time he'd ever had to decide something like that. Until he'd taken the other boy and brought him here, there had been no reason to return to the room except to sleep and recharge.

Thoughts pounded away in his head as the Commander walked- the boy was his responsibility now - he had to take care of him- how was he going to do that? What things did he need to get for the boy still? What things could he do with him-

He turned a corner and there was a group of soldiers there, all carrying things- two of them were working together to carry one big box-

"Come on, together now- oh no!" one of the soldiers tripped, and the box hit the floor and spilled, and the contents went flying everywhere- one object slid right to the Commander's feet.

He reached down and picked it up. Stared at it.

"Oh, Commander!"

He looked up and watched the soldiers salute- nodded in response- went back to studying what he was holding- shifted it so that he was holding it with both hands. It was surprisingly large-

"Sorry for making a mess Commander- it's just that this stuff is so heavy-" One of the soldiers said- and the Commander heard sounds- realized that they were beginning to pick up the items that had been scattered.

He tucked the item- it was soft and fuzzy- under his arm as best he could, considering its size- continued to hold onto it even as he helped the soldiers pick up the things that had fallen and replace them in the box. Even though the gloves prevented him from actually feeling the item, he could tell it was soft and fuzzy by the way it looked- by the way it gave under his hands. It was also brown- almost like the dog the boy- Lucas- had been with before...

"Thank you Commander!"

He nodded as he placed the last item in the box- still keeping the item that had landed at his feet before in its position under his arm. "Where did these come from?"

"Supposedly, this is all stuff that was supposed to go to one of his Highness's playrooms in NPC, but apparently when he saw them, he didn't want them after all."

"Um... you know Commander- we're just supposed to throw this stuff away- if you want to keep that teddy bear, no one would care."

He switched his gaze from the stuffed animal to the soldier, then back again- pulled the toy out and studied it- then lowered the bear and tucked it under one arm as best he could- nodded to the soldier. "Thank you."

"No problem sir!" they saluted, and he thrust his fist in the air in acknowledgement, and then they all went their separate ways.

This teddy bear- he could use it for the boy.

He quickly strode to the room, then opened and opened the door- switched the bear's position so that it was behind his back as he walked into the room.

There was no one there.

But then there was a thud from the bathroom, and the boy- Lucas- walked out.

"Oh, you're back finally! Hi!" he said it with a smile- but he was also wet. Why?

The boy- Lucas- blinked- the Commander realized that the other boy was surprised at the way he was looking at him- and then he looked down at himself- looked back at the Commander and smiled. "I was just washing our clothes. I'm not sure how to dry them though, since there's no sun in here..."

"...washing ...our clothes?"

The other boy shrugged, still smiling, though it was a bit rueful now. "Well, there's not much else to do in here, you know. Besides, it's always nice to have clean clothes, right?"

"But it's not your job."

"It's someone else's job?" he sounded surprised.

"The cleaners come in every other day and pick up the dirty clothes, and bring them back when they're clean." he straightened up as he explained that. It felt ... good, to be the one explaining things to the other boy, instead of the other way around. Since he was the Commander, and the boy- Lucas- was not, this was the the way things should be, right?

But as he shifted, he felt the teddy bear move against him- for a moment, he hesitated- which would be better? Which would produce better results for the boy? Should he try to use it as a reward, or give it as a gift?

The boy- Lucas- was studying- was studying the bear- and he suddenly realized that even though he was hiding the bear behind his back, parts of it were sticking out-

"Did one of the Pigmasks give that to you as a gift?"

He shook his head, then tilted his head to the side, slightly puzzled.

"Because they like you and look up to you." the boy-Lucas- explained, apparently reading his puzzlement. "When they mixed the two of us up, one of them gave me a gift."

"...of course they respect me. I'm the strong one- the Commander."

The boy sighed and folded his arms. "I don't think that's the only reason. I'm know it's part of it, but not-"

Before the boy could say anything else, the Commander stepped forward and shoved the bear into his arms. He realized again how large it was- it filled the boy's arms and covered his face.

"Did the troublemakers ever do anything like this for you?"

The boy- Lucas- shifted the bear, moved it so that part of it was resting against the top of his head, but it was out of the way so that they could look at each other again. "Who?" he asked, his voice plainly puzzled.

The Commander remembered that the boy- Lucas- had claimed that the Army were the ones who caused trouble. Which was silly- although he had a point about the chimeras. But everything else he'd brought up- the Commander didn't know anything about it, which meant the Army wasn't involved, right?

The Commander turned away- moved to the other side of the room as he tried to think.

Someone must have been lying to him before- those people- the ones at the Temple, the ones who had been controlling the boy before- they must have been filling his head with lies- confusing him. Yes... that explained everything-

He heard movement behind him- turned to see the other boy placing the bear on the cot- no, half way on the cot, half way on the bed- he'd moved them, the Commander realized suddenly- he'd pushed their sleeping places together so that they were side by side, right next to each other-

Well, that was okay, right? there were no rules against moving the furniture- and this way, the boy- Lucas- would be closer, so he'd be easier to keep track of-

Even as he was thinking this, the boy was coming closer to him- only stopped once he was close enough to reach out and touch him- even though he didn't. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. The boy- Lucas- didn't look convinced, but before he could say anything, the Commander reached out- took his shoulder and began to maneuver him towards the door.

"Where are we going now?" the boy- Lucas- asked- not resisting but not moving toward on his own either.

"It's time to eat again."

"Okay, but shouldn't I finish taking care of the clothes first-"

"It's not your job."

"Maybe, but I don't want to make it harder for anyone to do their job either... you said they come every other day, right?"

"Yes, they'll pick up the clothes while we're eating."

"Okay then." Quicker than the Commander thought he'd be able to move, the other boy ducked away and disappeared into the bathroom- after a moment of getting over the surprise, the Commander followed.

He found the boy- Lucas- wringing out the clothes into the bathtub and then hanging them over the bar where the shower curtain hung. Then, when he ran out of space there, he draped them over the edge of the tub.

The Commander watched silently- listened as the other boy began to hum under his breath.

"...you're happy?" The question shot out of the Commander's mouth before he'd even realized that it was lurking around on his tongue.

The boy- Lucas- turned back to face him, one of the Commander's white t-shirts wet and dripping in his hands. His smile flickered ruefully. "Well...yes and no, I guess. I'm happy that I'm not alone here- that you're with me- and I'm happy that you're not trying to fight me anymore- but I don't like being separated from my friends, and I don't like this base at all...and like I said before, I really don't like the Pigmasks because of the bad things they've done. Still, I'm trying to look at the bright side-" he turned and draped the shirt next to the other clothes- it had been the last one that needed to be taken care of- and then walked over to him. "I mean, you're here- I don't even want to think about what it would be like all by myself. How..." the boy- Lucas- trailed off- and then he reached out- gently touched the Commander on the shoulder. "How did you stand it here?"

The Commander stared at him. What? What did he mean?

...it didn't matter. It didn't matter-

He had turned away- was headed for the door- the boy's footsteps sounded behind him- he didn't turn and look, would not allow himself to turn and look- but he couldn't stop himself from relaxing when the boy- Lucas- caught up.

"I wish you'd talk to me." the other boy said wistfully- and the Commander didn't know how to tell him there were things he wanted to tell him, but he didn't what they were and he didn't have any words to say them...

OoOoOo

___They were lost in a sea of flames._

_Fire surrounded them- tried to swallow them whole- _

_They ran hand in hand- tightly grasping each other, throwing their free hands over their faces, trying to gain whatever small protection they could from the burning heat-  
_

_They ran into a dead end- fallen trees that were now just mounds of flames- as they spun, hand in hand still, trying to find a way out, he suddenly realized what was burning all around them-_

_Flowers- tall ones. He thought- he thought they might have been yellow, before the fire-_

_The other yanked him forward- they dashed down another path, the fire chasing their heels-_

_There, ahead of them! The fire was ending- there was a dark space ahead of them- that had to be the end of the fire, right?_

_Wait- there was something ahead of them- something red- but it wasn't the fire- it was- it was-_

_Red dress- brown hair spilling everywhere- red blood-_

_A strangled cry- from the other? From him? No- from both-_

_And then a cry came from further in the darkness- and a form came flying out at them- landed at their feet-_

_There was a sound coming from the darkness- huge lumbering footsteps- but they couldn't look up from the body lying on the ground in front of them- a brown cowboy hat, covered with blood rolled out of the darkness like a tumbleweed- it landed on top of the unmoving body in front of them- and then-_

_A shadow detached itself from the darkness- loomed above them- its roar was so powerful that they were flung backwards, breaking their grip on each others' hands-_

He flung himself upright- his eyes darted around the room- greyish white walls, no fire, no monsters- and then he turned-

The other was sleeping- his head on top of the bear as if it was a pillow- mouth slightly open as he breathed- one hand, extended towards him, twitched slightly.

His sigh of relief was so loud it startled him- he was almost surprised it didn't wake up the sleeping boy-

But even as he was thinking that, the boy reached out and grabbed his hand- clung to it tightly, just like he'd been doing in the dream. He tensed- watched the sleeper as he mumbled something that he couldn't make out- but the sleeper was also smiling affectionately- happy to be holding his hand...

Slowly, his free arm stretched out and his hand landed gently on top of the sleeper's head.

"Lucas."

OoOoOo

Argh no real life! My trip is coming up so fast! (goes back to preparing for trip...which is what I should have been doing before).


	8. Chapter 7

Lucas collapsed onto his bed with a frustrated sigh.

At least he actually had a bed now. Apparently, the other had ordered someone to bring him a bed as soon as he'd been captured and brought to the base, but it had taken them until now to get it here.

Lucas shifted in his new bed- it wasn't nice and springy, the way his and Claus's bed at home was, but it was a lot nicer than the cot he'd been sleeping in before. The room was still pretty cold, but along with the bed had come two new blankets, so that did help. Lucas had promptly put one on the other boy's bed, right after he had finished pushing the two beds together.

Lucas's restless shifting had caused the mattress to move beneath him- enough that the teddy bear's balance was thrown off- fell on top of his head, temporally blocking off his vision. Lucas left a startled breath escape, then chuckled as he sat up and lifted the bear off of him.

"I think you need a name." he said softly- and then his smile slipped away.

It had been three days since Lucas had been bought here- at least, he thought it had been. It was hard for him to keep track without the sun and the sky.

He still had no idea where Duster, Kumatora, and Boney were or how they were doing… he really hoped they were doing okay. At least he knew the other boy wasn't evil, so they were probably okay- but there were still chimeras wandering around and things could happen- Lucas couldn't help worrying about them.

But the most immediate worry he had was the other boy.

Lucas still didn't understand him. He was still claiming that he had no name, that he was just "the Commander" and he didn't seem to want anything at all from Lucas other than his presence, and sometimes he didn't even want that. And he was keeping on his helmet on all the time- even to sleep, even though it was making his neck stiff and he kept rubbing it when he woke up, he still wouldn't take it off while Lucas was there- why?

Lucas sigh- lowered the teddy bear and set it down against the head of the bed- lay down on his stomach and looked at it.

He was thirteen now, which was too old to be playing with stuffed animals, but he was happy that the other boy was trying to think about things that might make Lucas happy- and it was nice to have something that made this room a little less like a grey box. The teddy bear's smile might be stitched, but it was friendly...

…come to think of it, the other almost seemed to look at Lucas the way some of the villagers had looked at Boney when he was a puppy- cute, but useless. Some of them looked at Lucas the same way- even now.

They didn't seem to realize that with everyone else gone, Lucas was the one who took care of everything. He cooked for himself and for his dad (when he was home), mended the clothes, and took care of the sheep. Sure, at first he hadn't done it very well, but he'd learned.

Lucas wasn't the strongest person around, or the smartest or the most capable- but he wasn't stupid and he wasn't a weakling either. He could take care of himself- except for when it came to the other. But the other… he was… Lucas just couldn't figure him out.

The other had never asked him any questions- what they'd been doing at Thunder Tower- how they'd discovered the Needles- never asked him what Duster and Kumatora were likely to do next and where he could find them- he'd never asked Lucas about anything like that. The only thing he had asked that related to their journey was how to get into the Temple, and when Lucas had told him that he couldn't tell him, he had accepted that and hadn't asked again. Lucas was glad he wasn't asking about that or any of the other things, but at the same time…

Lucas didn't know what to do.

Lucas buried his face in his arms and groaned.

"Lucas, let's switch places."

The thing that had looked like Claus had said that, back on Tanetane Island.

Lucas knew that the things that they'd seen there had been just because of the mushrooms they'd eaten- just tricks played on their minds…but still…

In his mind, Lucas replayed it again.

"Oh Lucas, what are you doing here? Let's go together! I'll follow behind, okay? Lucas…Lucas…let's switch places…you're more…you're more…Lucas…Lucas…Lucas.."

Lucas slipped into sleep- a dream where Claus was running, always always just out of Lucas's reach…

OoOoOo

The knock at the door made Lucas start, almost causing him to fall off the bed.

"Hey you! Open up in there!"

"…I fell asleep?" Lucas asked the empty room, still half-asleep, then shook his head.

"Hey you!" the demanding voice came again. "The Commander wants to see you! We're here to take you to him!"

…he wanted to see him?

Lucas jumped out of bed- jammed his feet into his sneakers and rushed to the door.

There was a group of five Pigmasks there- they seemed angry.

He hadn't taken that long to answer the door, had he?

"You, captive! The Commander told us to take you to him."

"Okay-" Lucas started to say, but one of the Pigmasks got behind him and shoved him forward.

"Start walking captive!"

Lucas looked over his shoulder at him- he didn't say anything as he started walking forward- but he didn't like this.

He understood that the other boy was busy, that he didn't have time to do everything he wanted to- but he couldn't think of any reason that he would suddenly send for him. Other than having Lucas follow him around like a puppy, the other didn't seem to have a "use" for him- he seemed to like having Lucas around, but he didn't seem like the type of guy who pulled people away from their jobs just to fetch a captive to follow him around like a lost puppy.

The Pigmasks crowded around him, surrounding him and ignoring him except to shove him in the direction they wanted him to go.

Lucas wished that he knew what was going on- wished he could see the faces of these guys- wished he knew where they were going…he hadn't been this way before, when he was following the other around…

They shoved Lucas into a hallway that didn't seem to lead anywhere- there were two doors, one marked "Supply" …it was a lonely seeming hallway…it didn't seem like other people came there much- it didn't seem as well-traveled as the rest of the base.

They stopped there and Lucas looked around nervously.

"Why are we-"

One of the Pigmasks- it might have been a different one, but they all looked the same in those uniforms- shoved him, sending him into one of the other Pigmasks. "Listen, you! Don't go thinking you're special just because you're the only one the Commander eats with and spends time with!"

"Really? I'm the only one he does that stuff with?" Lucas asked hopefully, pointing at himself.

One of the other Pigmasks- the tallest one- slapped the previous speaker on the back of the head, then turned to Lucas and glared at him. "None of your business captive! The Commander only brought you here to learn about you and your resistance friends, got it?"

"You know, I wondered about that at first too." Lucas said thoughtfully. "but he hasn't asked me about that at all- like he doesn't care about them- I mean, it's true that he and me are the only two who can pull the Needles, but still-"

If anything, the Pigmasks got even madder. "Shut up captive! It doesn't matter why he's keeping you here- you're still nothing more than a prisoner! And it's about time you understood your place!"

On either side of Lucas, a Pigmask grabbed one of his arms.

Lucas tried to pull away, but they had tight grips, and before he could really get started, the leader Pigmask, the tall one, punched him.

It hurt- it really hurt. It knocked the wind out of him- for a couple of minutes, Lucas just struggled to breathe.

"Get it now? You're powerless, helpless- there's nothing you can do, and sooner or later, you won't be of any more use to the Commander, and then he'll discard you like a broken toy!"

The words stung, but Lucas just breathed, trying to find a way out of this situation. He didn't like the way the Pigmask was talking about the other, like he was some kind of heartless jerk, when Lucas knew he wasn't like that, but he didn't want to make the Pigmasks madder than they already were- and the one they called the King- he'd said that he'd blame the other boy for any trouble that Lucas got into-

"The Commander won't be interested in you much longer anyway." another Pigmask added. "The Commander doesn't care about anything other than his job."

"That's right!" another chimed in, "The Commander is only focused on following orders!"

"He isn't some robot called Commander!" Lucas yelled, forgetting about the danger, thinking only of the suddenly small figure of the other boy after the Pig King had hung up on him, "he's a human being, just like you or me!"

As the words left his mouth, he winced internally, watching the Pigmasks get even madder- but he didn't take his words back- couldn't take his words back- only straightened his shoulders and glared at them. "Even though he's a very strong person, a very calm and cool person- even though he can be cold, he's just a human too!"

"How dare you talk like that!"

"You think you understand the Commander better than we do?!"

One of them slapped Lucas- he tried to twist away, but they held him tight- it was a wimpy slap anyway- Claus had hit him harder than that before they could walk.

More of them coming at him now- Lucas leaned forward, intending to kick back and try to escape that way- but then he froze- that feeling, that fist-clenching-his-heart feeling- it was back- why?

The fist hit his face then, halting all thought temporally.

Vaguely, he heard a mechanical roar- but he didn't quite understand it until the Pigmasks squealed and let go- he fell, briefly, until arms- strong and firm- wrapped around him and ripped him away.

Something echoed in his ears-

When the ringing stopped and the world stopped spinning, Lucas looked up.

"Commander." whimpered one of the Pigmasks.

The one holding Lucas didn't say anything, just continued to glare.

The smooth black jacket with the fuzzy collar was the same-the orange pants and the boots were the same- but the helmet was gone.

The whimpering Pigmask was holding a gun- he must have shot it, shattering the helmet, which was lying on the floor in pieces a few feet away.

Claus was the one under the helmet- Claus had been the one under the helmet all along. That's why he hadn't killed them when he had the chance on Tanetane Island- why he had kept Lucas alive and protected him.

He wasn't looking at Lucas- he was glaring coldly at the Pigmasks- but he was still holding onto Lucas, even though he'd gotten his balance back and was in no danger of falling anymore. Claus's mouth was moving, but Lucas couldn't make out the words. His face was so stiff- so cold- he'd never seen that type of expression on Claus's face before- but still-

"You're alive." Lucas said softly.

Claus turned to look at him- Lucas realized he'd scolded the Pigmasks and sent them away while he'd been lost in thought and memories-his face was so still… before, Claus had always been energetic, always moving, always in motion- he blinked suddenly, and concern surfaced and began to show in his eyes like a sunrise. "You're injured."

Lucas shook his head- and that's when he realized that he was crying. "You're alive."

Claus blinked, faint confusion showing in his eyes. "Of course I'm alive."

"Everyone said that you had to be dead- that you'd gone and gotten yourself killed- but Dad and I- we believed that you were still alive- he's still looking for you, even now!"

Claus didn't say anything- just watched him, confused, but listening.

"Why didn't you come home? We were waiting for you- I made omelets every day for a year, hoping you'd smell them and come back…why didn't you come home?"

"…home?" Claus got to his feet, carefully pulled Lucas to his feet and then tugged him down the hallway back to the room- opening the door and pulling him inside, Claus swung his arm around. "Home."

"No! No, this isn't home! Home is Boney and Dad and Mom and you and me!"

Claus jerked, almost as if he'd been hit.

Lucas pressed on. "Don't you remember? Don't you know who I am? Don't you know who you are?"

Claus twitched. "Stop it- stop talking."

"No, I won't!" Lucas shook his head. "Did you hit your head? Is that why you can't remember anything?" a sudden horrible suspicion gripped Lucas and he reached for his brother but Claus stepped back. "Did- did they do things to you? Is that why you can't remember?"

"Stop talking!" There was something like fear in the raised voice- why? He reached into a pocket and pulled out the control for the shock collar.

Lucas barely glanced at it long enough to realize what it was before looking back at Claus.

"If you don't stop talking, I'll punish you."

Lucas took a step forward.

Claus shifted back.

"You're my brother. How can I not try to get you to remember?" Lucas asked softly. "You're my brother- my best friend- we used to do everything together…hey, let's get out of here- leave the base and-"

This shock was almost as bad as the first- he'd been so focused on Claus's face, he hadn't seen his finger press the button.

He might've cried out- might've screamed- he didn't know.

He collapsed, but he didn't hit the ground- he was caught- held…

"Claus." it came out weak, almost like a cough.

"Lucas?"

He didn't move- didn't say anything. What could he do? Claus didn't want to hear the truth, but he couldn't just-

Wait.

He'd used his name- he'd actually called his name!

"Hey Lucas, wake up! I'm sorry- I didn't mean it!"

"You remember me!" Lucas shouted happily, jumping to his feet- stumbling because he was still a little dizzy- he hugged his brother.

Claus actually hugged him back. "I didn't kill you- I didn't kill you- I'm so glad I didn't kill you!"

The two of them clung to each other for a moment- Lucas crying softly with relief- feeling his brother's heartbeat and feeling his body tremble as he breathed-

Eventually, Lucas shifted, moving his head so they could see each other. Claus's mismatched eyes blinked- looked down almost shyly, almost guiltily, before looking back up and meeting Lucas's.

"You remember me now?" Lucas asked softly, just to be sure.

Mismatched eyes flicked over his face. "…Lucas?"

"Yeah, that's right, that's my name."

"We're…we're brothers." he stumbled over the words, but when he finished, the ghost of one of Claus's old smiles flashed over his face before disappearing again. "I hurt you."

"I forgive you." Lucas said quickly, hugging him again. "I'm just glad you're okay!"

"…you were worried about me?"

"Yeah, of course I was. We all were."

"…why?"

"Why?" Lucas's head snapped up so fast it hurt. "Why? Claus, you're my brother and I love you- of course I was worried about you!"

Claus blinked- seeming to think about that.

"Claus?"

He lifted his head then, looked at Lucas- "…Claus…that's my name?"

"Yeah…you didn't even remember your name?"

Claus shook his head. "He said…he said I didn't have a name."

"Who did?" Lucas asked softly. He didn't really want to know- but at the same time, he had to know. Who would tell his brother such a horrible lie?

Claus dropped his head, and spoke in a voice even softer than Lucas's. "Master Porky."

Somehow, Lucas wasn't surprised. "Well, he was wrong." Lucas said firmly, pushing further questions aside for later- Claus came first. "You have a name- your name is Claus. And you have a family-"

Claus nodded slowly, the ghost-smile coming back again. "You're my brother." No hesitation this time.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm your brother- we're twins."

"Twins?" Claus questioned, then nodded as he remembered. "We were born together- but I'm older than you."

"Only by five minutes." Lucas protested, automatically and half-heartedly. "But Claus, we're not the only ones in our family- remember Boney?"

"Boney?" Claus repeated, "Boney…he's-he's our dog? He…he was following you around before… wasn't he?"

Lucas nodded happily and hugged him again. "That's right! That was Boney- he's our dog! He lives in his dog house, right in front of our house, and he's brave and smart and he'll be so happy to see you again!"

Claus shifted slightly, and Lucas went on. "Remember Dad?"

"…Dad…he's-he's bigger than us…strong…but not that strong."

Lucas wanted to protest- but then he remembered Flint grabbing that piece of burning wood and striking out. "…He's not that bad Claus- he missed you too, you know. He spends all his time searching for you."

"…but he was always busy…with the house…and the sheep."

"You're more important than the house and the sheep, Claus." Lucas said softly. "We were all scared for you- we were all worried about you. When you disappeared…after Mom's funeral-"

Claus shuddered.

Lucas tightened the hug. "I miss her too." he said when Claus stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"She's-she's…she's g-gone?"

"Uh huh. She died just before you disappeared…do you remember?"

Claus shook his head.

Lucas hesitated. He wanted to bring Claus's memories back all the way- but some of the memories- like that last walk home with Mom- were painful…when Duster had gotten his memories back, they'd all come back at once…

"Claus…"

"Commander!" the call rang out from the communicator at full volume making both twins jump. "Commander! The Ultimate Chimera has been spotted near the base!"

Lucas looked up at Claus- the change passed over his face like a freak storm cloud.

Claus grabbed the communicator and spoke into it, speaking as the Commander, his voice strong and firm. "Get out three of the Pork Tanks- even if they don't hurt it, they should keep you safe. I'm coming." he flipped the switch to shut it off, returned it to his pocket and pulled away from Lucas- turned towards the door.

"Claus wait!" Lucas grabbed his sleeve. "What about going home?"

Claus cocked his head. "This is home." he gestured to the four walls surrounding them, and then paused- thinking and then stepping forward- slowly- hesitantly- patted him on top of his head. "…this is home." he repeated. "Since I'm the older brother, I'm supposed to take care of you, right? Are you cold at night still? I can get you another blanket. Those guys that picked on you earlier? I'll take care of them. You probably don't want to eat in the mess hall after what happened earlier, right? I'll bring you your supper after I've dealt with the Ultimate Chimera… families eat together, right?"

"Right- but Claus-"

"Shh." Claus very, very gently patted his head again. "I'm going to take very good care of you. Be good- wait here- I'll be back soon." one last pat- and then he was gone, out the door- it clicked as it locked behind him.

Lucas fell to his knees. "He doesn't get it. He doesn't get it. Mom- what am I going to do?"

OoOoOo

So who was waiting for this? I know I was- so much so that while writing…I skipped chapter 4 to write this chapter. (Giggles sheepishly). And then in revision I decided to add two new chapters before this. (rolls eyes at self).

But argh, revising this chapter was such a pain- I'm still not sure I'm happy with it.

And this is probably going to be the last chapter I post for a while- I've got a big trip coming up, and I'm not going to be able to access the internet at all for months (groans). Hopefully, I'll be able to start posting again sometime in July…


	9. Chapter 8

Days had passed and still nothing. Still no sign of Lucas or the Masked Man.

Duster sighed as he came into view of Tazmily. At least he still knew where to find this place- although all the changes- the missing flowers and the emptiness and the lack of people made him wonder sometimes.

Maybe some of that came out into his sigh- or maybe Kumatora could read minds. She turned to him.

The look she gave him was a lot different from her usual ones- a lot softer- like she understood. Actually, she probably did understand. Even though she hadn't lived in the village with him and Lucas, she'd been losing people, the Magypsies, the only family she'd ever known, ever since the whole thing with the Needles had started.

But there was a difference between loosing something and something being twisted almost beyond recognition…

Duster pushed the pain and the thoughts away- focused on the now.

He pasted on a smile for Kumatora- she didn't fall for it, but she nodded- and the two of them entered the town.

The town square was empty- not even Mapson was there anymore.

Each of their footsteps seemed to echo- a hollow sound, like a rock thrown against a tomb.

They paused in the middle of the square.

"Where to now, Duster? Should we look for your dad first, or Lucas's grandpa?"

Before Duster could decide, they heard barking.

He and Kumatora turned to see Boney dashing towards them from the direction of Lucas's house.

The dog dashed around them- sniffing- seeming to be looking for Lucas- before stopping in front of them. He gave a soft little whine before picking himself up and dashing off in the direction he'd come from, and then turned around and barked at them until they followed.

Alec and Wess were waiting in front of the house- they must've figured that someone was coming by the way Boney was acting, because they were waiting for them.

Duster could see equal amounts of worry and relief in his father's eyes and large amounts of worry mixed with a bit of relief in Alec's eyes.

"No sign of Lucas?" Wess asked.

Duster shook his head.

"He's a tough kid- he'll be fine. Unfortunately, we haven't seen any sign of him either."

"What I don't understand." Alec said, his eyes boring into them, "is why Lucas was captured in the first place. What have you guys been up to?"

Duster and Kumatora exchanged looks.

"Uh…"

"It's complicated." Duster said apologetically to Alec, then turned back to Kumatora. "You're the one who spent the most time with the Magypsies, so you should be able to explain it best."

Kumatora sighed even as she nodded, then stepped forward and faced the two older men. "Okay, it's like this-"

OoOoOo

"So, other than this mysterious Masked Man, Lucas is the only one with the ability to pull these Needles, eh?" Wess asked with a smile. "Well, the kid wouldn't be my pick for hero, but at the same time, I can't think of anyone better. If it weren't for the fact that he's captured, I could rest easy."

"We just gotta find him." Kumatora insisted.

"Easier said than done Princess." Wess said, turning grave again. "The training facility, the factory, even that chimera research place- they've all been shut down. Nobody there at all. Where do you suggest we look now?"

"Well, these pig jerks have been here for three years- they must have a secret base somewhere! If we search for it, we should be able to find it!"

Duster turned to look at Alec, who still hadn't said anything- he found him turned away from the others, staring into the distance, in the direction of the Temple…the place where they'd fought the Masked Man- the last place they'd seen Lucas-

He'd looked so small then- high above the ground-

"This "Masked Man" -" Alec spoke, then turned to face them- looking first at Duster, then at Kumatora, then back again. "You haven't seen his face?"

They both shook their heads.

"Haven't seen his face, haven't heard his voice, don't even know his name. Guy's a real mystery."

Duster nodded in agreement.

"I see…Boney, I know that sometimes you can use your strong sense of smell to discover things…did you find out anything about him?"

Boney whined.

"He says he couldn't smell anything but some super strong cleaning chemicals and the Pigmasks around us sweating like crazy." Kumatora translated. "They smelled pretty funky to us too, right Duster?"

"Right." Duster agreed, wondering why the older man was so fixated on that, asking so many questions about the Masked Man-

"About how old would you say he is?" Alec pressed.

Duster shrugged. "With that helmet, it's hard to tell- he wasn't very tall though-"

"Shorter than me." Kumatora added.

"-so actually, he might not be that old." Duster finished. Something about that thought seemed worrisome… but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Before he could figure it out, Alec sighed.

"That so, huh?" he turned away again. "You're probably wondering where Flint is- I wish I knew. He spends all of his time searching for Claus in the mountains- only coming back to visit Hinawa's grave. Occasionally, he'll check in on Lucas…but once Lucas told me the only sure way he had of making sure he got to see his father was to camp out at Hinawa's grave…" Alec sighed and turned back to look at the others. "Boney and I searched all over the mountains with no sign of him. Maybe he decided to search somewhere else- I don't know. But we couldn't find him."

Boney whined.

Kumatora growled softly- a tone more sad than angry. Duster thought he might've heard her mumble something under her breath, but he wasn't sure- and if she wasn't going to say it loud enough for everybody to hear, he wasn't sure it would be a good idea to ask her to repeat it.

"…Claus was reckless, but he wasn't cruel." Alec said, looking straight at her. "He never would've stayed away for long- something must've happened- something must have kept him from coming home."

Duster nodded. "We know Alec." Something like death, was the thought that came to mind, but Duster wasn't going to say that out loud. Thinking it was bad enough- for a moment, Duster shut his eyes- tried not to remember how things had used to be-

_Coming back from a training trip, his dad leading the way- everyone in the square turning and smiling at them- cheerful welcomes that echoed off the walls- Flint tipping his hat with one hand as he carried a bucket full of dirt with the other- walking over to Hinawa, who was standing up next to the new flowerbed, one bloom that still wasn't planted in her hand- Claus and Lucas turning at the same time, lifting their heads from the butterfly currently perched on Lucas's open hands-_

The sound of his dad sighing made him open his eyes again.

The older man was folding his arms and turning away from the rest of the group. Duster knew that- if asked- his dad would claim to just be trying to think of a way out of the mess that they were in. But he also knew his dad was more softhearted than he wanted people to know- not that he was really softhearted- he could be harsh, sometimes extremely harsh (Duster tried not to wince at the memory of some of his bigger mistakes)- but that didn't mean that Wess didn't care.

"He's right Alec, we all know that. Even the Princess can figure that out, just by having traveled with Lucas. The two of them may have been different, but they weren't that different."

Alec muttered something- Duster couldn't make it out.

Then there was silence for a moment- everyone lost in their own thoughts- until Kumatora stomped her foot. "Guys, we need to stop talking and do something!"

"And what do you propose that we do, Princess?" Sarcasm coated the question like honey, but it was a question.

Kumatora glared half-heartedly. "We're just going to have to keep looking until we find Lucas, that's all!" she spun to face Duster. "Hey, remember that weird place we found?"

Duster nodded.

"Let's head back there and search it some more. With that weird reaction you had to it, it must be something important! If we go back and check it out again, search it more thoroughly, we might find something- who knows, maybe it's an old Pigmask base, and they'll have left some maps lying around that will tell us where to find their other bases!"

"It's worth a try." Duster agreed. "With no other leads, we might as well go check it out." He ignored the voice inside of him that was insisting that it wasn't a Pigmask base, it wasn't. At this point, it didn't matter. Kumatora was right- standing around and talking wouldn't help Lucas- or the rest of his family- at all.

On the other hand, retracing their steps had a chance of accomplishing something.

"Okay!" Kumatora spun to face Alec and Wess again. "We're off again- Boney, you come and get us if you guys find anything out, okay?"

Boney barked.

"Be careful." Alec said soberly.

Duster nodded, then turned to face Wess.

He was frowning- almost like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to say it. But that couldn't be it, could it? Wess never let hesitation interfere with anything he wanted to say...

"Dad?" Duster asked tentatively.

Wess, still frowning, looked up at him. "Duster- have you ever- well…had a dream…where you were…argh! Forget it. Take care of the Princess, you hear? And - take care of yourself too."

"I will, Dad- on both accounts." Duster promised fondly- if a bit confused and wondering what his dad had been about to say.

"We're off!" Kumatora announced, fist pumping the air.

"Come back safely."

They nodded- and they turned and left.

Silent in their leaving, they returned to the path that led to the village… past where the well had been...stepping past it, thinking of his father, the man he'd been missing without remembering for three years- wondering what it was that he had wanted to tell him but hadn't said- maybe he'd just wanted to tell him that he loved him?- he'd always had problems saying it- always-

Duster felt a ringing in his ears- shook his head, trying to get rid of it- from far away, he thought he heard Kumatora calling his name-

_"You guys are going to dig the well here? How far down are you going to dig it?"_

_"As deep as we need to." the dark haired man said, hefting his shovel- the cowboy hat was tilted forward, in an attempt to keep the sun from his eyes._

_"Hey kid." the hand descended on his head gently, causing him to look up. "Watch the princess for me- make sure she doesn't get into any trouble, alright?"_

_"Yes sir."_

_The man ruffled his hair before leaving to join the man with the cowboy hat in digging the well._

_He smiled down at the baby in his arms. "This village is going to be really cool- it'll be even better than the place we lived before! Just wait and see!"_

_Green eyes blinked up at him, giggling- not recognizing his words but recognizing the fact that he was speaking to her- she reached up and tried to grab his nose again._

_"Hey quit it." he said fondly, moving his head just to be safe. "You're stubborn, aren't you? But that's good- that means you'll keep going, even when things get hard- that's a good thing. And for you and me- orphans, both of us- things'll be hard for a while…do you miss your parents, baby? I miss mine…but we're in a place like this, with nice people like this, so we'll be okay… yeah, we'll be okay."_

Once again, a punch to the face brought him out of it- landing in the dust on his rear end, Duster blinked dazedly up at Kumatora.

The naked fear on her face scared him more than three Pigmask tanks coming at him at the same time. "What is it?" he asked, scrambling to his feet.

"What is it?" she repeated in disbelief. "You tell me! You blacked out again- and then you started talking to yourself and to people who weren't there-what's wrong with you?"

Duster stared at her, then at where the well had been, then back at her. He shook his head- trying to clear it- placed one hand on his head, trying to think.

"…was it a memory?" he asked himself.

"…what?"

"I was a child- and Flint and my dad were digging the well that used to be there." he gestured to its former position, then turned back to her. "And I was holding a green-eyed baby…that my dad called "princess" …"

Kumatora stared at him.

Duster shrugged.

"…Doria told me that my mom went to them to give birth to me- to make sure that I was born healthy and strong- and then she left me with them and I never left them until three years ago-"

"How'd you know my dad then?"

"He visited me a couple times when I was living with Ionia… are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

Duster shook his head. "I don't know what that was- but I've never had a dream that vivid- that intense. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dream."

"…was it the same as what happened back in that abandoned place?"

Duster nodded. "It sure felt the same…"

"Then we need to get back there as fast as we can! What if it happens again? What if it happens while we're in a fight?"

"Good point." Duster agreed uneasily. He hadn't thought about that- that would most likely not end well.

"Come on then, let's go!" still obviously worried, Kumatora grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the ghost town.

OoOoOo

Someone needs to tell Kumatora that punching people isn't exactly the best way to snap people out of it.

And I leave tomorrow, why am I posting now? Hope I didn't rush this chapter too much...


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